Taking a Look at Softball Tournament Pairings

The CIAC takes notice of strength of schedule only to break ties when it does its tournament pairings. This is out of necessity but it does require careful study of the bracket to determine who has a cleaner path to make a run. The best illustration came during basketball season when Manchester was thrown together with nemesis Glastonbury and so was not able to make a run as deep as expected.

There is nothing quite so dramatic in the softball pairings but they are worth a look anyway.

Start in Class L where Rockville gets East Lyme (10-10), which closed the regular season with three straight games and is led by Madison Horner and pitcher Erica Hill. Rockville (15-5) has won six of its last seven and, as usual, is playing its best as June approaches.

The teams have one opponent in common. Rockville lost to Waterford early in the season 8-1. East Lyme lost twice, each time 7-0. The Rams will need leadership and clutch hitting from Brianna Levick, the only senior, and from pitcher Kaitlyn Lajoie. If the Rams make it through East Lyme they will host the winner of Berlin and Bristol Eastern.

E.O. Smith (13-7) may have gotten a friendlier first-round draw, despite being a lower seed than Rockville. The Panthers get Middletown, traditional Nutmeg League power. The teams again have one common opponent, RHAM-Hebron. Middletown won 13-7 early in the season and E.O. Smith beat RHAM twice 3-0 and 10-4. The road will get tougher for E.O. Smith if the Panthers and seniors Charlotte Kelleher, Morgan Ridzon, Marissa Boyer, Kylie Hill and Haley Hamlin get through Middletown.

They will either travel to Maloney-Meriden or host Lyman Hall-Wallingford. Neither is a bargain.

How stacked is the Class M tournament? Consider East Catholic, with a regular-season record of 16-4, is a No. 12 seed. In either the Class L or Class S tournaments, such a record would be seeded no lower than No. 5.

Suffield (18-2) is a No. 7 seed but this is fine since its opening round game is against Prince Tech (7-10). Two steps up and the Wildcats would be meeting Windham (8-12), a much tougher opponent. Seniors Kelly Kenney, Stephanie Fahey, Alyssa Wagner and Kayla Hale will find a much tougher second-round opponent in either Woodland or Sacred Heart Academy. Looming out in the distance, too far away for any coach or player to contemplate is No. 2 seed Waterford.

Ellington (16-4) comes in at No. 9 and gets Career Magnet in the first round and a possible second round meeting with Granby (14-2). The Purple Knights lost twice to the Bears during the regular-season but each game was close (6-5 and 4-1). No doubt the prospect of that matchup makes Granby just as nervous. The Knights underclassmen such as Shannon Millane and Kenzie Whiting will do what they can to make sure the final month of seniors Christine Spartz and Morgan McPartland high school careers last as long as possible.

As mentioned, East Catholic comes in as the No. 12 seed but consider the plight of No. 21 Haddam-Killingworth, which finished 10-7. Another win or another loss would have allowed them to miss a matchup with Allyson Fournier, who has not allowed a run since April 27. During the 10-game stretch, Fournier and fellow seniors Shannon Klock and Julie Maloney, have outscored opponents 93-0.

If East Catholic gets past H-K, the road immediately becomes more difficult as Holy Cross-Waterbury (18-2) is the likely second round opponent.

No. 19 Tolland (13-7) and seniors Alex D'Alosio and Brittany DeCarli were handed a difficult draw as St. Joseph (15-5) plays against some of the state’s elite competition on a regular basis. If the Eagles pull off an upset, they have Lauralton Hall waiting.

Nowhere are the vagaries of tournament seeding more apparent than in Class S, where No. 27 East Windsor, which closed the regular season with four straight wins, is matched against No. 6 Norwich Tech. The Panthers are 4-0 against Tech schools this season. Meanwhile, No. 3 Cheney Tech gets No. 30 Derby (8-12), which was tested in the difficult SCC and No. 5 Somers must beat Old Lyme (8-11).

Still, the state tournament is a fine reward for East Windsor seniors Briana Matteson, Kayla Herson, LaShonda Hilson, Kelly Lemay and Alicia Meyers, who leave the program in better condition than they found it.

As for Cheney Tech (17-3), seniors Tiffany Bonilla and Paige Parker lead a team that has won five straight and the Beavers, considering their bracket, seem like the one Tech school capable of making a run.

Of course, in Somers (16-4) success is measured differently. Seniors JoJo Meunier, Kayla Stetson and Shelby LaDue have their eyes on a championship. The road will be difficult. Morgan-Clinton, St. Bernard-Montville and Terryville all loom.

AROUND AND ABOUT

The qualifying times for the Class L state track tournament, Thursday in Middletown, shows why Windsor is a favorite to bring home the girls championship. The Warriors have the top-seeded runners or teams in eight events. Among the favorites are Janae Wilson, Sydnee Over, Brianna Allen and Chalsea Clark.

Fans in Enfield will be watching Fermi sisters Rachel and Ashley Van Gilder, both of whom qualified in multiple events in Class MM.

In lacrosse, Suffield is the No. 2 seed in Class S and so seniors, Katie Shute, Ally Pasquariello, Molly Clark, Mary Kate Tracey, Grace Presnick, Silvia Isotti, Emily Sweeney, Brenna Lowe, Paige Anderson, Tara Sullivan, Nicole Cordiliko and Stephanie Guminiak must wait for their final run at a state title. The Wildcats will get the winner of Granby and Sacred Heart Academy in the quarterfinals.

East Catholic (11-5) has a familiar opponent in Northwest Catholic. Seniors Torie Taylor, Kelly DiStefano, Carolyn Wallace, Sheila Lehmann, Liz Deffley, Erin DeMay, Eva Fulco, Aly DiCiancia, Maria Weber, Casey Horan, Jenna Malyszko, Emily Rock, Alex Banks and Sam Russo will meet Waterford if they win.

Windsor (10-5), led by seniors Kathryn Zeugner, Jamie Wakefield, Devonne Petgrave, Katrina Zawasky and Nicole Hughey face a stiff challenge in Class M against New Canaan.