10U Connecticut Mustangs win 7th Annual Sunrise Cottage Benefit Tournament

10U Connecticut Mustangs win 7th Annual Sunrise Cottage Benefit Tournament

By Matt McCarthy

The 2015 Connecticut Mustang 10U fast pitch softball season opened with a bang as the team took home the 7th Annual Sunrise Cottage Benefit Tournament Championship the weekend of April 25th and 26th. Ridgefield Sunrise Cottage, Inc. is a 501c3 non-profit charged with planning, fundraising, building and supervising the operation of community-based resident group housing for the developmentally disabled in the Town of Ridgefield, CT. Playing five games over two days at East Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield, the thirteen girls who make up the 10U Mustangs seemingly grew up before everyone’s eyes as they recovered from an opening game loss to Fairfield Fury and reeled off four straight wins en route to the championship.

Comprised of players aged 7 through 10, the Mustangs were by far the youngest team in the four-team field. Trumbull, the Fairfield Fury and host Ridgefield Rebel teams all fielded older and more experienced teams but it was the ability to throw strikes, play defense, run the bases aggressively and get the timely hit that set the Mustangs apart.

In the first game against the Fury, in frigid temperatures that never remotely approached mid-40’s, Mustang pitcher Molly Halliday fought against both the Fairfield batters and the bitter cold. Unable to get a consistent grip on the softball, pitchers for both teams did their best to keep their teams in the game, with the score 4-3 Fairfield going in to the top of the fourth inning. With the sun retreating and the wind picking up, both pitchers struggled to complete the next inning, with Fairfield literally walking away with a 13-8 victory over the Mustangs. Halliday was rewarded with her gutsy effort by being selected game Most Valuable Player by her Fury opponents.

In the 2nd game, the Mustangs turned to Brooke Formanek on the mound. With the weather still a factor, the Rebels jumped out to an early lead, benefiting from some defensive miscues and walks. Down 7-2 going in to the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Mustangs staged a furious rally behind the clutch hitting of Gabby Luongo, Natalie Lieto, Kierra Herlihy and Sophia McCarthy, who singled in both of her at bats and drove in four runs total. When it was all over, the Mustangs prevailed 10-9 and Formanek, who struck out 6 Rebels in three innings, took home Game 2 MVP honors.

The third and final pool play game on Saturday pitted the Mustangs against Trumbull, a veteran team that has played together for several years. Halliday once again took the hill and, with the weather finally breaking, pitched more in line with her considerable skills. After setting Trumbull down quickly to open the game, the Mustangs went wild in their half of the inning with 11 of the first 12 batters scoring. Though Trumbull began chipping away at the huge lead the Mustangs had built, they were unable to get completely out of the hole they had dug, ultimately falling to the Mustangs 13-9. Contributions came on the base paths and in patient at bats from Mackenzie Reid, Sofia Lieto and Hannah Fagan. Complementing strong hitting with solid defense at first base, Sophia McCarthy took home the MVP medal in Game 3.

With two wins against one loss, the Mustangs went in to Sunday as the #1 seed. Facing off against the only team to beat them, the Fairfield Fury, the Mustangs once again put the ball in Molly Halliday’s capable hands. In what had to be the most entertaining and nerve wracking game of the day, both teams came out of the gates aggressively. Halliday made the Fury batters put the ball in play and her defense had her back. Playing an incredible game in center field, Natalie Lieto made two highlight reel plays on the day. Her first came in the 2nd inning when the Fury’s #4 batter laced a deep fly ball to straightaway center field. Playing in only her third game as an outfielder, Lieto drifted back and settled under the ball to make the catch for the third out. To thunderous applause from the Mustang faithful, she trotted to the dugout for a bevy of high-fives. An inning later, she made an even more impressive play by turning a deep fly ball to center in to an unassisted double play, turning what could have been a big inning for the Fury in to a 1-2-3 inning. Sensing that Halliday was tiring, Manager Matt McCarthy asked Formanek to take over on the mound and she did not disappoint. Both teams exchanged runs over the last few innings, resulting in a 10-10 score going in to the bottom of the 7th inning. After the bottom half of the inning started with a walk and a strikeout, Isabel Viglione laced a single that put runners on 1st and 3rd with only one out. Eventual Game 4 MVP Gabby Luongo proceeded to drop a single in to right field for the game winning hit. The Mustangs got stellar pitching from Halliday and Formanek, superior defense from Natalie Lieto, Ava Moretti, Ella Bunovsky, Julia Bacoulis and Kierra Herlihy, and potent offense from Luongo, McCarthy, Halliday and Viglione.

Playing for the Championship to open the season was not something that anyone associated with the Mustangs could have anticipated. But with each passing game, the girls appeared to grow more confident in themselves and in each other. Players settled in to the positions they were most comfortable in and everyone on the team contributed to the team’s success through four games. They would have to continue to mature if they were going to win the fifth and final game of the tournament against the Ridgefield Rebels.

Already warm from her relief appearance against the Fury, Brooke Formanek toed the rubber for the championship game and came out firing, striking out two of the three batters she faced in the 1st inning. In the next two innings, the Mustangs jumped all over the Rebels offensively, taking a 7-0 lead in to the 3rd inning, which was keyed by a two-run double by McCarthy in the 2nd inning. After Formanek again breezed through the 2nd inning 1-2-3, the Rebels got one run back in the 3rd. But knowing a championship was in reach, the Mustangs tallied 7 more runs in the 3rd inning, with the big blow a bases-loaded triple by Isabel Viglione that ended the game. With the score 14-1, it was over. The 10U Connecticut Mustangs became Sunrise Cottage Benefit Tournament Champions for the second year in a row.

For a team so young, the 10U Mustangs played like champions all weekend. Manager Matt McCarthy and Coaches Frank Lieto, Tony Moretti and Joe Bacoulis congratulate all the girls on a wonderful weekend of softball.

Picture Caption

Front Row (l-r): Ava Moretti, Brooke Formanek, Natalie Lieto, Molly Halliday, Kierra Herlihy, Sofia Lieto, Ella Bunovsky

Back Row (l-r): Coach Tony Moretti, Gabby Luongo, Isabel Viglione, Manager Matthew McCarthy, Sophia McCarthy, Coach Frank Lieto, Julia Bacoulis, Coach Joe Bacoulis Missing: Mackenzie Reid, Hannah Fagan