Southington-Fitch a showdown of talent and perspective

BY ROGER CLEAVELAND

SOUTHINGTON — Everything about Monday’s softball showdown between No. 1-ranked Southington and No. 2-ranked Fitch made you feel that this is exactly the way high school athletics are supposed to be played.

For as much as there was on the line — and there was as much as there could be for a regular season game in April — when Fitch first baseman Jayden Delaporta recorded the last out in the Falcons’ 2-0 victory, there was no grand celebration on the field. There was no showmanship or grandstanding from the Falcons. There were also no tears or heads bowed in shame from the Blue Knights.

Instead, there was incredible perspective exhibited on both sides as the players happily mingled afterward, rekindling friendships from summer travel ball.

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“I thought it was cool, to play a team like that, you really have to earn it to win,” Southington third baseman Natalie Wadolowski said. “We tried our hardest obviously. We put our best out there so you can’t ask for more.”

Southington had a chance to tie Seymour’s state record for consecutive wins in a row at 78, but was denied as Fitch’s Princeton-bound pitcher Caroline Taber kept the Blue Knights off balance. She pitched a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts and also ripped an RBI double in Fitch’s two-run fifth inning.

Rather than sulk and cry, the Blue Knights understood that this loss was merely the end of a great streak, one long enough to leave them them tied for the 10th longest softball win streak in the nation at 77. The three-time defending Class LL state champions also understood that the loss doesn’t prevent them from winning a fourth straight state title. In fact, it will probably help them toward that goal by relieving pressure and providing additional motivation and perspective.

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“It is a big deal, it is a huge deal, but it is not going to determine the outcome of our season,” Coach Davina Hernandez said. “We are looking to bounce back and keep winning. I think what happens after this loss is going to determine what our team is going to be like. We have a lot to work on, but I have a lot of high hopes for this team.”

The Blue Knights (7-1) knew going into this season that it would take just eight wins to tie Seymour’s record and nine to surpass it. Hernandez could have scheduled the Class L powerhouse Falcons later in the season, but she liked the idea of challenging her team and making them earn the record against the best competition they could find.

“If you want to be the best, you’ve gotta play the best,” she said. “We are actually going to try to play them twice a year every year now going forward, one home and one away.

“How are you going to scream at a group of kids after winning 77 straight games? I really proud of them. And if you are getting these state championship-like games in the middle of the season, it can only help you.”

Hernandez said her players were a little tentative early in the game, only swinging at changeups rather than going after fastballs as they normally do. She is sure her players will learn a valuable lesson from that which can help them later this season.

She preaches all the time defense wins championships, and the Knights had a pair of errors in the decisive fifth inning. Nalissa Lynn Amar singled but went all the way to third when the ball got away from left fielder Emily Mankus. Amar then scored when Cassie Woods reached on an error. Woods scored on the double by Taber.

“There was definitely a sense of relief, because you want that go-ahead run just to take the pressure off in the later innings,” Taber said. “So the second I felt the bat connect with that ball, it was a really good feeling.

“For me personally part of it was about beating the streak, because some of my best friends play on that Southington team, like Natalie Wadolowski, Janette Wadolowski and Marie Scafariello,” Taber said. “They play on my travel team, and I would have had to hear about it all summer if they had won. But as a team, it was more important to play the best softball we could play.”