Overtime

The Westhill softball team heads to the field for a final intrasquad game after learning that its season had ended. Kathleen O’Rourke/Staff Photographer

The Westhill High School softball team won its second straight Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference championship Saturday afternoon.

But its finest moment came today, just minutes after the players learned that 2 1/2 hours earlier, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference had ended their season, overturning a successful protest the Vikings had made the day before after a 4-3 loss to Norwich Free Academy in the second round of the state tournament.

The details have been well-documented — there is a follow-up story in tomorrow’s Advocate.

And because of article 6.3 in the CIAC guidelines, which does not allow for protests in state playoff games, the correct call was made.

We will save for another day the CIAC’s ridiculous policy, which can be filed under article 63 of why it is one of the most feckless organizations in the country.

The bottom line is the CIAC does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Westhill softball team.

Few do.

After 20 players learned their year had ended and seven seniors — Brittany Longo, Kylee Ruther, Lynette Martinez, Hannah Goldstone, Julie Osipow, Taylor Kurtz and Nicole Memale — discovered their careers were over, everyone was crestfallen. There were many tears and hugs as the team’s coach, Tom Pia, and the school’s athletic director, Mike King, who had relayed the news, stood silently and watched.

But like a rainbow after a storm, 10 minutes later the players were laughing and smiling. They arrived at the field in their uniforms — King and Pia had decided earlier to wait and tell the team together of the ruling — and no matter what there was going to be one last game.

Players were out of position — Longo was in center field, Osipow pitched, Julianne Vincent was at catcher and Martinez was at first base.

It was softball at its most basic, salve to a deep wound.

“No matter what happens, we’re one big family,” Ruther said.

Defending champions are often cast as enemies by virtue of their status, but there were no ill words spoken about the Vikings, largely because of the popularity of their players.

Today’s display was one of the more inspirational moments in high school sports I have witnessed in recent memory.

The standings may say that the Vikings’ final game was a loss.

But to anyone who was at their field yesterday, it was a great big W.

The Westhill High School softball team’s season ended today — with the players taking part in an intrasquad scrimmage. Moments earlier, coach Tom Pia had to tell his team that Norwich Free Academy’s 4-3 victory stands because according to CIAC rules, schools are not allowed to stage protests in state tournament games.

There were numerous mistakes made yesterday that contributed to an emotional rollercoaster for a team that went through a season of ups and downs.

There will be a complete story in tomorrow’s Advocate and a commentary about what makes this Westhill team so special posted here tonight.

Unless its gets an 11th hour reprieve, the Westhill High School softball team’s season is over. According to Vikings coach Tom Pia, the CIAC has upheld NFA’s protest this morning and told the team not to make the trip to Stamford.

Pia said in the state tournament packet it states that even if an umpire makes a mistake, the results on the field stand.

Pia said the CIAC is getting hold of the official who upheld the Vikings’ protest yesterday. A final decision is supposed to be made by 1 p.m.

I will stay on top of this story and post an update as soon as I have it.

The saga following yesterday’s Westhill-NFA state tournament softball game continues. Westhill coach Tom Pia just called: NFA is appealing to the CIAC the protest that the Vikings won and does not want to come back to Stamford today to complete the game. Westhill is awaiting a ruling and I will post the outcome as soon as I have it.

The fallout from the successful protest after its apparent 4-3 loss in the second round is the talk of the local sports community this morning. Right now the game story is No. 1 on the most e-mailed list on the Advocate web site.

Rather than rehash what happened, here is the link to the story: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/localsports/ci_12505487

A couple of points before we see what happens with today’s possible compelling continuation of the game:

* A lot is being made of Westhill coach Tom Pia using the word “pinch” runner instead of “courtesy” runner when he inserted Cassandra Kish into the game after Jen Joseph’s single, and then failed to re-enter her. While it certainly appears to be getting into picky semantics, Pia did open up a technicality by using the wrong term.

* The person who comes out the worst in all of this is NFA coach Bryan Burdick, who outsmarted himself by waiting over an inning before contesting that Joseph should not have been allowed to continue to pitch. Burdick should have protested as soon as Joseph came out to pitch the seventh inning. By waiting until a situation where he could rattle the Vikings, he did not exactly come out as a role model for sportsmanship to his players. His comment to me about the delay — ”I’m a forgetful individual sometimes” — is most telling.

* A lot of people are criticizing home plate umpire Tommy Oliver for not knowing the rules. Oliver is a good umpire with a strong reputation, and the fact that it took a 20-minute conference call with a CIAC official, who had to bring in a rules interpreter, tells you what an unusual situation this was.

If Oliver did anything wrong, he should have allowed Joseph to continue pitching and then let NFA make the protest.

Now we await the next chapter in one of the most bizarre stories I have ever covered.

(This is the latest in a series of entries by guest bloggers throughout the high school spring sports season. Mike Nemchek and his daughter Sammi, who is entering her fourth year as a starter on Trinity Catholic’s softball team, explore the topical nature of the parent-athlete dynamic.  Mike coached many of the city’s top players in youth leagues, including Sammi.)

By Mike Nemchek

Congratulations to Tom Pia and his Westhill Vikings, who just won their second consecutive FCIAC softball championship. The residents of Stamford should be very proud of the back-to-back accomplishment.

In addition, out of the eight teams that qualified for the FCIAC Tournament, three were our local teams, so perhaps the current signs at the end of the Stamford exit ramps on I-95 should be changed. Perhaps they should read, “Stamford, The City Whose Three High School Softball Teams Really Work.”

As the winning run crossed home plate, courtesy of Hannah Goldstone’s base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning, it occurred to me the only thing remaining in the softball season is the state tournament.

Translation: the end of my daughter Sammi’s high school softball career is approaching, but I don’t know when that last game will be and I don’t like not knowing.

I need to mentally prepare myself for such an event to avoid a public meltdown when that final out is recorded, but no one I know has a crystal ball. Ideally, it will be on either June 12 or 13 at DeLuca Field in Stratford in the state final, and ideally the last game is a victory, but currently those are unknowns.

The knowns are the regular season, the FCIAC Tournament and qualifying for the state tournament.

Unfortunately, now the uncertainty begins, but no matter how it turns out, I would like to thank my daughter Sammi and all of her teammates and coaches for four years of wonderful memories.

Best of luck to Trinity, Stamford High and Westhill in the state tournament.

Let the games begin!