Granby Memorial Softball Survives, Moves on to Class M Quarters

Cliches are cliches for a reason. Though every cliche is trite, there exists an overwhelming, if not obvious, truth.

There is no shortage of cliches when state tournament time rolls around in high school sports. There’s the “We’re taking them one game at a time.” A personal favorite is, “In the state tournament, records go out the window.”

But the most frequently used cliche is perhaps the simplest: survival is the name of the game.

Such was the case Wednesday afternoon for the No. 3 softball team, which ground out a tough 4-1 victory over No. 14 Laurelton Hall in the second round of the state Class M tournament in Granby.

The Bears (21-1), relying on some characteristically timely hitting, overcame some uncharacteristically shaky play in the field (four errors) to just survive and move on to the quarterfinals, where they will face No. 11 Griswold in Granby on Friday.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” Bears head coach Vicki Malone said. “But they kept their head in the game. We can’t keep making mistakes and move on. But if you can make those mistakes and win, they can forget about it.”

Things started out normally enough for the NCCC champions, as Granby Memorial jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Haley Makuch’s RBI single after pitcher Neve Stearns retired the first three Laurelton Hall (13-5) batters in order.

But Stearns, who, along with shortstop Ellie Bourque, was named All-State, had to consistently work out of trouble the remainder of the afternoon.

Indeed, Stearns retired the side only once more (the top of the third), as she worked her way out of jams in the second (runner on second, two out) and fourth (two singles to leadoff the inning).

On offense, the Bears built their lead to 3-0 on Sam Groskritz’s RBI triple in the bottom of the third and Emily Martel’s RBI triple in the bottom of the fourth. Both clutch hits came with two outs.

But Laurelton Hall showed its resolve by scratching out a run in the top of the fifth when Jaclyn Brewster led off with a single and was chased home on Alexa Dawid’s double. Stearns again pitched out of trouble, inducing a ground out, a pop out and a strikeout to end the threat.

Laurelton Hall struggled to get the one big hit all afternoon.

“We have a young team with four seniors that are moving on - three going on to play in college and one who has opted not to,” Laurelton Hall head coach Theresa Napolitano. “And the rest are freshmen and sophomores. This was a learning experience for them. When you play a good team, you’ve got to play your ‘A’ game.”

Groskritz provided the Bears with a three-run cushion again with a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth that scored Morgan Malone, who led off the inning with a single.

“Sam was the bomb,” Vicki Malone said with a smile. “We played small ball, we got runners in scoring position and I have my lineup where anyone can hit and we got them today.”

Stearns had to work through a tough sixth and seventh innings - during which runners were on first and second - before securing the victory.

And while the victory didn’t come easily, Malone uttered the phrase that spoke to the universal truth of tournament time.

“Survival is the name of the game,” she said.