Softball's Powerful Pitchers; Girls On Track

The softball pitcher is the most important player in all of sports, which is why East Catholic’s Allyson Fournier may well be the most valuable player of the entire 2010-11 school year.

Fournier has led East Catholic to a 9-4 record, including a 6-0 shutout victory over Plainville on Friday. Her numbers are difficult to believe.

In 84 innings, she has allowed 31 hits and struck out 181 batters. Her earned run average is 0.42 and opponents are hitting .116 against her.

The Eagles are not blessed with enormous offensive talent. They scored one run in their four losses and were averaging 2.4 runs per game before a 15-run outburst earlier this week against Manchester. Still, the Eagles are a team no one wants to meet and that’s because of Fournier.

“It all starts in the [pitchers’] circle,” East Catholic coach Kevin Keena told Patch’s Reid Walmark after the win against Manchester. “We dominate in that particular area right now.”

This is an understatement. Consider that in her 84 innings has retired more than 70 percent of opposing hitters by strikeout. Her teammates have been called on to make fewer than six plays per game.

This is reminiscent of those old barnstorming teams that used to play with five players or something behind a dominant pitcher. Given Fournier’s dominance, fielders could be excused for allowing their attention to wander but according to Keena that hasn’t happened.

“We’re not falling asleep,” he said. “We’re making the four or five plays a game that we have to make.”

If the Eagles keep making those plays and the bats of Shannon Klock, Julie Maloney and Laura Skoly continue to produce timely hits, East Catholic’s six-game will grow.

AROUND AND ABOUT

Another team blessed with a powerful pitcher, Somers, lost its first game this week, a 9-1 decision to Granby, which merely proves how difficult the NCCC is to forecast.

JoJo Meunier responded by allowing one run in the next two games as Somers (11-1) built a two-game winning streak. Granby’s offensive explosion was the result of patience (seven walks), timely hitting and poor Somers’ defense. Of course, being patient against Meunier can lead to a quick at-bat. She struck out 11 against Stafford.

Ellington got a measure of revenge for an early-season loss to Suffield with a 9-7 victory Friday. The Purple Knights (11-2) have played themselves right back into the NCCC race and have a chance to stay there when they host Somers Tuesday. Ellington wins in different ways, sometimes behind the arm of Morgan McPartland and sometimes with the bats, led by Ali Larew.

Suffield is also 11-2 and is averaging 9.3 runs per game. This is an unusual way for an elite softball team to make its way through the season, most are built behind a big pitcher, but the Wildcats have proven capable of hitting top pitchers. They beat Granby and Ellington and will meet Somers on May 18. Alyssa Wagner remains the most consistent bat in the Wildcats lineup but Lexi Pallotti and Anna Boucher also continue to produce timely hits.

Rockville’s six-game winning streak ended Friday (a 3-2 loss to Simsbury) but the Rams can feel confident about their recent play. Rockville has proven capable of scoring in a variety of ways and their coach Frank Levick is not afraid of the big decision. The loss Friday was a perfect illustration of both.

Levick sent the speedy Emily Burg on a delayed steal of home in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. The run tied the score at 2-2. Not only was it a creative way to pick up a run, it was also a gutsy one. Babe Ruth once made the final out of a World Series attempting to steal second base but he was Babe Ruth.

You get thrown out at home on a delayed steal and the coach is going to have to answer some questions. So the speed, bats and pitching of Kaitlyn Lajoie should aid Rockville in the coming month but so should the quick thinking of their coach.

Another team playing to improve their state tournament seeding is E.O. Smith (9-3), which has won four straight games while outscoring opponents 50-8. The Panthers have four games next week, which would likely be too much of a workload for even the best pitchers.

Fortunately, E.O. Smith has excellent support for Josie Borysenicz in Colleen Ecsedy. Look for both pitchers to get some innings as the Panthers try to keep their streak alive against Bloomfield, Tolland, Rockville and Rocky Hill.

East Windsor’s goal was not to win the NCCC but simply to make the state tournament. They got a big 9-1 victory over Windsor Locks during the week to improve to 5-7 but the schedule is difficult this week with games against Canton, Suffield and East Granby. There are at least three more wins on East Windsor’s schedule if Brianna Matteson and her teammates play to their potential but there is also little room for error.

ON TRACK

The Windsor girls track team is starting to round into state meet shape. Brianna Allen (100, 200 meters) and Sydnee Over (200, 400 meters) are both running times that will be good enough to contend for a championship at the Class L state meet in early June…Ashley Van Gilder and Rachel Van Gilder, seniors at Fermi, both have times near the top of the Class MM seedings in the 100 and 200.

Fermi lost during the week, although the Van Gilder’s took firsts, to Tolland, which has Katie Sprout, who is among the fastest qualifiers in Class M in the 100 and 300 hurdles.