Softball Moves on to State Semi-Finals

For the first three innings of the Class L State Championship Quarterfinal softball game the 2^nd seeded Lady Bobcats (22-2) were being shut down and shutout 1-0 at home by the 10^th seeded Lady Warriors (15-5).  Windsor pitcher, senior Jennifer Lattal had retired the first nine batters she faced, striking out seven of them.  Facing the top of the order for the second time, Lattal finally ran into trouble as Brookfield rallied for the lead in their tense 2-1 victory.

Sophomore center fielder Jessie Angelo who had been batting ninth all year but was moved to the top of the order in the first round of the state tournament, came through with a leadoff single.  She lofted a ball to shallow right center field that fell in front of the defenders.

"We've got to catch that ball," Windsor head coach Bill Alexander said. "In games like this it's who makes the play when they have to.  The momentum changed and they were able to shorten their swings."

From there Angelo stole second base to put herself into scoring position.

"Just wanted to try something different," Brookfield head coach Frank Bonacci said of moving his center fielder to the leadoff spot.  "She has speed."

Freshman third baseman Felicia Lennon moved Angelo to third with a single through the left side of the defense.  Lennon then stole second base setting up first baseman Stephanie Moss.  Moss, a senior captain, drove the ball into the right field gap for a two-run triple and a 2-1 fourth inning lead.

"I knew I had to take a deep breath and get it done," Moss said of the big hit.  "The girls got on for me."

"That's two days in a row she got a big hit for us," Bonacci said of Moss.

"[Moss] got the key hit," Alexander said.  "That was the difference in the game."

After surrendering a run in the first inning on a single and a triple by seniors Shannon Maloney and Christina Garcia, Brookfield starting pitcher Kayla Berardi didn't allow another hit, as she shut down the Lady Warriors the rest of the way.

"A couple years back she may have letdown," Bonacci said of Berardi surrendering an early run.  "She knows the team behind her.  We have her back.  We started slowly but we were going to come back."

Berardi had 12 strikeouts in the game but needed to work around three walks to preserve the lead.  She stranded a runner at first in the third inning by getting back-to-back strikeouts.  She walked the number nine hitter with two outs in the fifth but left her standing at second base after a steal by striking out leadoff hitter Maloney looking.

"Kayla pitched a great game for us," Moss said of her fellow senior captain.  "She pitches her heart out for us every game."

In the sixth inning Windsor had the middle of the lineup at bat.  Senior Kailey Cagney drew a one-out walk giving clean-up hitter Garcia another chance to do damage.  Garcia promptly roped a line drive but it was right at second baseman Nikki Suib.  Suib knocked it down and tagged out Cagney before throwing to first for the huge double play.

"[Garcia] came through today," Alexander said of his power-hitter.  "If that ball is six feet higher in the air it's in the gap and it's a whole new game.  That's what it comes down to, play's like that."

"She hit a rocket right at Nikki," Bonacci said.  "Players will panic on plays like that, we told her all year 'don't panic.'  Fortunately the runner had to delay because it was a line drive.  That could have changed the complexion of the whole game."

Berardi worked a clean seventh inning, striking out the final batter of the game to send the Lady Bobcats to the semi-finals.  For Windsor their successful season ended too soon.

"We had six seniors playing together.  We wanted to make quarters and see what happens," Alexander said.  "Theres a lot of great teams in the top 10 of Class L and we wanted to be one of them.  We achieved our goal but we wanted more."

"They're a very good team," Bonacci said of Windsor.  "They only gave up 22 runs all year, we knew it was going to be a tough game."

Now Brookfield will face 6^th seed Bristol Eastern (16-4) next week.  The game location and date has yet to be announced.

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