By Dave Stewart
MaxPreps.com
STRATFORD, Conn. - The good news for Connecticut’s South West Conference is that there are new state championship plaques to add to two of its schools’ trophy cases thanks to a pair of ace softball pitchers. The bad news for the league is that its hitters will have to contend with Masuk’s Rachele Fico and Lauralton Hall’s Bridget Gates for one more year.
Fico and Gates delivered outstanding pitching performances during state finals weekend and led their respective teams to 1-0 victories and championship gold at Stratford’s Deluca Field on June 7.
Fico tossed her 12th no-hitter of the season as the SWC champion Masuk Panthers finished off a perfect season by beating NVL champ Naugatuck in the Class LL final. Earlier that day, Gates pitched a two-hitter against Suffield, and scored the game’s only run, as the Lauralton Hall Crusaders captured the Class M championship.
The double championship capped what has been an fantastic spring for the SWC, which had Fico as its centerpiece. Masuk finished 27-0 and was ranked No. 1 in Connecticut behind the junior pitcher, who has already made a verbal commitment to play at LSU in 2010.
Fico’s numbers are amazing, as she compiled an ERA of 0.07 and allowed just 21 hits and seven walks while striking out 486 in 195 innings pitched. Of her 27 wins, 24 were shutouts and 12 were no-hitters, including seven perfect games. In May, Fico tied a national record with five consecutive perfect games, and she also had streaks of 224 innings pitched without an earned run and 21 straight shutouts.
Masuk, which has won four consecutive SWC and two straight state championships, has won its last 51 games.
Fico struck out 14 in the state final against Naugatuck (23-4), allowing just three base runners — one hit batter and two walks. One runner was gunned out trying to steal second base by catcher Caitlin Viccari, and the other two were stranded by strikeouts.
The Panthers scored the game’s only run in the bottom of the third. With Haley Dorne on first base and two outs, Alyssa Pagano ripped a double to deep right. Dorne was held at third and Sam Barbessi cashed in by beating out an RBI infield single to shortstop.
Naugatuck’s last gasp came in the top of the sixth, when Fico walked a batter with two outs. She struck out the next hitter to end the frame and retired the side in order in the seventh for the championship.
If it wasn’t for Fico, Gates might be the premiere pitcher in the SWC, and she was at her finest in the Class M tournament, tossing shutouts over East Catholic in the semifinals and Suffield in the final to give the Crusaders their first State title since 2005.
Gates carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Suffield before allowing a hit with two outs. The next hitter reached on a fielder's choice, but the final out was a line drive to shortstop, where Nikki Maier gloved the ball to put the championship in the books.
Gates also helped generate the only offense of the game after leading off the bottom of the second inning with a single. She was pushed to second on a sacrifice by Becca Napolitano and then stole third. Kiley Baird then put down a squeeze bunt to score Gates for the 1-0 lead, which held up for the final five innings.
Lauralton Hall finished the season 22-4, with five wins in the State tournament, including a 5-2 upset of No. 2 Seymour in the quarterfinals. Suffield finished 21-3.
Baseball: Vikings Hammer Way to Crown
The Westhill Vikings were dominating during the Class LL baseball tournament, outscoring their opponents 46-8 in five games on the way to the program’s first state championship since 1980.
Westhill pitchers tossed two shutouts and allowed more than one run just once — in a 13-6 win over No. 2 Simsbury in the quarterfinals. The seventh-seeded Vikings, who finished as the runner-up to Staples in the FCIAC, ended the season with a 23-5 record.
The Vikings’ bats hammered the Masuk Panthers in the final, pounding out 14 hits in a 13-1 rout. Starter TJ Hickey didn’t have his best stuff and allowed four walks and five hits while striking out four in four-plus innings, but reliever Steve Rivera was unhittable in three innings. Rivera walked one and struck out four, and worked out of a huge jam in the top of the fifth. With the Vikings up 6-0, Masuk worked the bases loaded with no outs, knocking Hickey from the game. Rivera hit the first batter he faced to force in a run, but retired the next three batters to hold on to the 6-1 lead.
Westhill then put the game out of reach with six runs in the sixth, an inning highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of Greg Smith.
In all, six Vikings had RBIs, including the four for Smith, two each for Rivera, Sean Moynihan and David Fogel and one each for Sean Mullins and Bobby Migliazza. Migliazza was a perfect 4-for-4.
The loss ended a strong postseason run for Masuk (21-7), which won the SWC championship before reeling off four wins to reach the Class LL final.
Girls Lacrosse: FCIAC Takes Two
The Darien Blue Wave and Danbury Hatters made it a clean sweep for the FCIAC at the state girls lacrosse finals, with each taking home championship hardware on June 7 in Trumbull.
The Hatters (16-5) claimed their first state crown, building a 12-5 lead in the first half and cruising to an 18-10 victory over Suffield in the Division II final.
Princess Livingston, who racked up a school record 128 points this spring, again led Danbury with five goals and five assists. Kate McKinley also scored five goals to along with two assists, while Jillian Colley had five goals. Kate Keckelsen, Kaitlin Arconti and Gillian Dennehy also scored and goalie Robin Cooper made nine saves.
The Darien Blue Wave rebounded from a loss in the FCIAC semifinals and rolled to four straight wins in the State tournament, capping the run with a 20-7 rout of Wilton in the Division I title game.
Darien, which finished the season 19-4, beat its four playoff opponents by a combined scored of 74-34, the closest game being a 15-11 decision against New Canaan in the quarterfinals. That game gave the Wave a measure of revenge, as the Rams had beaten Darien 15-14 in the FCIAC semis.
Caroline Spillane wrapped up a stellar career as Darien’s all-time leading scorer, netting five goals and dishing out five assists in the final. Courtney Bennett had four goals and two assists, Sam Stevenson had four goals and Liz Calby had a hat trick. Caroline Frelinghuysen and Clemmi Little each scored twice, with Frelinghuysen adding two assists, and goalie Phoebe Maglathlin made eight saves.
Wilton (20-4-1), this year’s FCIAC champ, had two goals and one assist apiece from Amy Drummond and Brooke Flanagan, while goalie Katie Gunts made 10 saves.
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
