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Masuk sharp in win over Pomperaug

Friday, May 4, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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Howdy, Cardillo here checking in after Masuk’s 8-1 win over Pomperaug Friday afternoon.

Not a lot to say, frankly. Kind of a ho-hum game that took forever, in part to a widely inconsistent strikezone that neither team seemed too happy about.

Masuk, No. 5 in this week’s Register poll, deserves its billing as a Top 10 team and is probably the favorite, along with Brookfield, in the SWC playoffs later this month. Pomperaug, an SWC finalists last season, is solid with a strong top of its lineup but was undone by seven errors — mostly on routine plays in the infield.

A couple things of note:

* Masuk had a bunch of work done on its field, including leveling off the infield from a range of three inches to 18-inches across the diamond. There are also new fences up around the diamond and some “chips” behind the plate and touching foul territory. It looks nice.

* Tatum Buckley is a very solid pitcher at the high school level, but she might be an even better hitter. She also stole home in the sixth on a double-steal with a runner at first.

* Pomperaug’s Christine Pinnkathok stole second base in the third inning and got plucked in the face with the ball. Not a big deal since she had a mask over the opening of the helmet to block it.

* Lots of hit batters in this one. The Masuk trainer was busy.

Newest state softball poll released

Monday, April 30, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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The latest Connecticut high school softball poll, compiled by the New Haven Register is out.

Not much has changed, the Top 10 remains intact from a week ago, with Seymour continuing to hold its place alone atop the poll. The only big change is a loss last week dropped Brookfield from No. 2 to No. 8.

Also of note, there are currently 16 teams in the state that are either undefeated or only have one loss, making it difficult to crack the Top 10.

Team Record Pts Last
1. Seymour (15) (12-0) 450 1
2. Maloney (11-0) 4006 3
3. Foran (10-1) 358 5
4. Southington (9-1) 342 4
5. Masuk (10-1) 320 6
6. Waterford (8-1) 269 7
7. Rockville (11-0) 263 8
8. Brookfield (8-1) 247 2
9. Westhill (10-1) 228 9
10. Amity (10-1) 193 10

Dropped Out: None.

Other teams receiving votes: Rocky Hill (8-0), 191; Law (10-1), 134; Granby (11-0), 108; Fitch (8-1), 66; Norwalk (9-1), 63; Stonington (8-1), 41; Oxford (9-2), 40; Lauralton Hall (5-2), 26; Darien (9-2), 17; Coginchaug (9-2), 15; Guilford (8-3) and Mercy (8-3), 9; Griswold (9-2) and North Branford (7-3), 8; Bacon Academy (7-2) and Bethel (8-2), 7.

The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Scott Aresco, Maloney;  Mike Cardillo, Connecticut Post; George DeMaio, WELI; Maureen DiSorbo, Cheshire; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Suzy Minor, Hale-Ray; Theresa Napolitano, Lauralton Hall; Ken Pereiras, Seymour; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Lori Riley, Hartford Courant; Mike Suppe, Hersam-Acorn; Liz Sutman, Waterford; Peter Vander Veer, Hersam-Acorn; Jimmy Zanor, Shoreline Newspapers.

The following did not vote: Vickie Fulkerson, The Day of New London.
Poll compiled by: Mike Pucci

Softball tripleheader May 12 at DeLuca Field

Wednesday, April 25, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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St. Joseph softball coach Jeff Babineau has organized a tripleheader on May 12 at DeLuca Field in Stratford, featuring three rivalry games in order to raise money for the Erin Babineau Memorial Fund.

Masuk plays Lauralton Hall at 3 p.m., followed by Trumbull against St. Joseph at 5 and Bunnell vs. Stratford caps the evening at 7.

Erin Babineau passed away in 2005 at the age of 10. She was an avid softball player and would have been a senior at Bunnell this year. The fund recently helped complete an indoor turf field in Stratford’s Sterling House property named, “Erin’s Field.”

There is a single-price admission for all three games. Adults are $5, students and seniors at $3 and kids are 8 are free.

More information can be found at:

* Erins Gym and Erinbabineau.org

You can also call Jeff Babineau at 203-521-7323.

St. Joseph’s bats break out

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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Howdy, Cardillo checking in here after St. Joseph’s 13-0 five-inning win over previously unbeaten Danbury Wednesday afternoon.

Pretty sure the Cadets’ 12-run third inning is finally over.

In my years on the high school softball beat I’ve seen some big innings, but nothing quite like that. The Cadets sent up 10 batters before Danbury recorded an out. Nine straight Cadets got hits, all scoring, including a grand slam by freshman Katie Gardella — the team’s No. 9 batter, no less.

What made this inning so crazy was that it wasn’t aided by errors or walks, which is how you see softball innings get out of hand. It was just hit-after-hit-after-hit. There were a couple dunks over the first and third bases — a dink by Kial Watts that rolled out of play beyond third did score two –  but mostly clean singles.

Not sure St. Joseph can do that every game, but with seniors Breana Shepard and Taryn Figmic — who later made a diving catch in foul territory at third — the Cadets should be a tough out going forward.

Other thoughts:

* St. Joseph has former Stratford ace Carrie Potter as its pitching coach. Potter is back in Connecticut at Saint Vincent’s College, following a two-year stint at Florida Atlantic. Potter hurt her shoulder lifting weights, thus ending her pitching career. “We’re really happy to have her in the program,” St. Joseph coach Jeff Babineau said. Babineau had coached Potter in travel ball many years earlier.

* Danbury was 8-0 coming into the game, Harry Trohalis admitted their record was, in part, a product of an easy early-season schedule.

* There was a track meet going on behind the outfield wall. The starter’s gun kept going off, which jarred me. Didn’t seem to bother either Danbury or St. Joseph.

* Oddly enough found a tick crawling on my khaki pants during the second inning. Word of warning for everybody as the weather gets warmer at these outdoor games.

Stonington pitcher strikes out 21 in perfect game

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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Stonington pitcher Andrea Chiaradio did something on Saturday that brought back memories of former Masuk pitcher/legend Rachele Fico.

In a 3-0 win over Norwich Free Academy she struck out all 21 batters she faced, en route to a rare  perfect game as reported by the New London Day.

Consider these facts, which make Chiaradio’s feat all the more impressive:

* She is in her first year pitching at the varsity level and splits time with another player.

* Norwich Free Academy posted 27 hits in its previous game.

* It was Chiaradio’s first no-hitter/perfect game the high school level.

Chiaradio, who used her drop curve throughout the game, said she didn’t start thinking about perfection until the fifth inning when teammates told her on the bench, according to the Westerly (R.I.) Sun.

“I had a few 3-2 counts so that was close. And they tried bunting a few times, but they either fouled it off or just couldn’t get it down.

“The last batter was left-handed and fouled a few pitches off. I got kind of nervous. Then I threw a fast ball on the outside corner for the last strike and it was all over.

“Everyone on our team was giving me hugs. The crowd stood up and cheered for me. The umpires congratulated me and said I did well. And the NFA players and coaches were really nice. I’ll celebrate with some of my friends. And I’ll keep throwing and try to do as well as I can.”

Chiaradio’s day was so impressive it left Stonington coach Ann-Marie Houle in a very emotional state, she told the Sun:

“That’s unheard of. It’s historic. I was tearing up a little at the end when she got a standing ovation.”

Fico ended her career at Masuk in 2009 with a record 26 perfect games, a national record. She also accomplished the 21-for-21 strikeout feat during her career.

Hard to see any pitcher putting together a better day than Chiaradio the rest of this season, unless there’s extra innings.

Weekly softball poll released

Monday, April 23, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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The weekly New Haven Register state softball poll is out and Seymour cemented it’s place atop the list. Fellow undefeated teams Brookfield and Maloney moved up a few places, while Foran and Masuk fell a couple spots after suffering their first defeats of the season.

Slowing climbing toward the Top 10 are teams like Law, Oxford and Danbury, who are a combined 23-2.

Team Record Pts. Last

1. Seymour (9-0) 480 1
2. Brookfield (7-0) 403 6
3. Maloney (9-0) 384 7
4. Southington (6-1) 312 3
5. Foran (7-1) 302 2
6. Masuk (7-1) 294 4
7. Waterford (6-1) 258 5
8. Rockville (7-0) 230  NR
9. Westhill (7-1) 222 8
10. Amity (7-1) 219 10

Other teams receiving votes: Rocky Hill (5-0), 216; Granby (9-0), 139; Law (7-1), 132; Danbury (8-0), 105; Oxford (7-1), 92; Mercy (7-2), 61; Griswold (6-2), 38; Lauralton Hall (3-2), 34; Guilford (6-2), 31; Fitch (6-1), 25; Darien (6-2), 21; Norwalk (7-1), 17; East Lyme (6-1), 16; Bristol Eastern (5-1), 15; Coginchaug (6-2) and Stonington (6-1), 9; East Haven (6-1) and Torrington (6-2), 8.

The following voted: Marc Allard, Norwich Bulletin; Scott Aresco, Maloney;  Mike Cardillo, Connecticut Post; George DeMaio, WELI; Maureen DiSorbo, Cheshire; Vickie Fulkerson, The Day of New London; Mike Madera, Elm City Newspapers; Suzy Minor, Hale-Ray; Theresa Napolitano, Lauralton Hall; Ken Pereiras, Seymour; Mike Pucci, New Haven Register; Lori Riley, Hartford Courant; Mike Suppe, Hersam-Acorn; Liz Sutman, Waterford; Peter Vander Veer, Hersam-Acorn; Jimmy Zanor, Shoreline Newspapers.

The following did not vote: None.
Poll compiled by: Mike Pucci

SCC Softball playoff schedule

Thursday, April 19, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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Here’s the SCC softball postseason schedule. Top eight teams qualify.

Tuesday, May 22 – Quarterfinals @Higher Seeds
Wednesday, May 23 – Semifinals @West Haven HS – 5 and 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 24 – Championship Game @West Haven HS – 7 p.m. All-Division photos 6 p.m.

Diamond Vision: Law stops Foran

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 by:Mike Cardillo
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Howdy, Cardillo checking in after Law’s walk-off 2-1 win over Foran Wednesday afternoon.

Here’s a couple thoughts:

* Law’s celebration was about as big as you’ll see for a regular season game, which makes sense since the team has gone two years without a state tournament appearance and beat their city rivals, who happened to be the defending Class L state champs. The celebration even included an impromptu silly-string fight.

“It’s more than just a win for the girls. Whether both teams were 0-6 it’s going to be an exciting game, every single year,” Law coach Melanie Paolini said.

* Law senior shortstop Melissa Nelson, who only made one error as a junior, and an excellent two-way game, making every play in the field and driving in a run on an RBI groundout.

* Law’s defense was excellent throughout, including a rare 3-4-3 putout for the final out in the seventh. First baseman Sam Murphy dove to stop a ball hit by Ashley Mendillo, it deflected to second baseman Danielle Gray. Both recovered in time to get the runner at first. Gray earlier made a nice jumping catch.

* Foran pitcher Jess Harkness is relatively small of frame, but she throws pretty hard.

* Foran third baseman Melissa Bruno has to be one of the best hitters in the state. Everything she hits, she hits square and hard.

* Both these teams seem like they’ll be around come playoff time without any glaring weaknesses.

* Foran coach Jeff Bevino said his team hasn’t been effected by last year’s state championship: “Last year has nothing to do with this year. It means a lot to a lot of people, but these kids come out and play their game. They did the same thing last year.”

* Also, Bevino said he’s lost about 50 pounds thanks to a new diet.

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