Big wins for Holy Cross, St. Paul softball

The Holy Cross and St. Paul softball teams came up with a pair of big victories on Monday.

The Crusaders outlasted Seymour, 4-3, in eight innings on road Monday night. During the afternoon, the Falcons won at home over Naugatuck, 4-1. Here’s more on each game:

Holy Cross 4, Seymour 3 (8)

A video of the postgame handshake line posted on the Crusader softball Instagram account said it all:

“UPSET ALERT 🚨 THE CRUSADERS TAKE DOWN SEYMOUR IN EXTRA INNINGS!!”

Holy Cross improved to 8-4 while snapping Seymour’s nine-game win streak (11-2). Haley DiBona had two hits and two runs scored while Darby O’Connell added an RBI for the Crusader offense. In the circle, Sam Lawton scattered five hits and struck out eight. Holy Cross secured a split of the two regular season games against Seymour.

St. Paul 4, Naugatuck 1

Unlike the first meeting a little over two weeks ago, the Falcons got out to an early lead against the Greyhounds.

Taylor Williams, Bella McCulloch and Lauren Kozlak put together back-to-back-to-back hits in the bottom of the first inning as St. Paul struck for three runs. The Falcons added another later in the game. Kozlak’s lone mistake in the circle was a Leah Chatfield solo home run. St. Paul improved to 9-4 while Naugatuck fell to 8-5. The Falcons split their two regular season games.

Caption: TOP PHOTO — St. Paul’s Lauren Kozlak, seen here fouling off a pitch in the first meeting against Naugatuck on April 13, had a big afternoon in the circle Monday in a 4-1 Falcon victory over the Greyhounds at home. BOTTOM PHOTO — Holy Cross’ Sam Lawton, seen here warming up against Woodland in the season opener, worked around five hits and fanned eight in a 4-3 Crusader victory in eight innings at Seymour on Monday night. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)