Pawcatuck On Brink of World Series

The Pawcatuck Senior Little League All-Star Softball Team will have to bounce back Thursday in the Eastern Regional semifinals.

You see, Pawcatuck must rebound from allowing a run.

The local squad of 13- to 17-year-old squad beat host Worcester, 9-1, Wednesday to complete Pool A (New England) play with a 4-0 record. In Pawcatuck's first three games, it won by scores of 10-0, 16-0 and 13-0 and hurled no-hitters, including Andrea Chiaradio's perfect game in the opener.

Today, Pawcatuck stands on the brink of advancing to the Little League World Series Aug. 7-13 in Lower Sussex, Del. Pawcatuck will face Pool B (Mid-Atlantic) runner-up Worthington, Pa. today at 9 a.m. New Gloucester, Maine, plays Cumberland/Salem, N.J. in the other semifinal. Semifinal winners play 2 p.m. today in the final. Pawcatuck is 4-0 while the other semifinalists are 3-1.

"We've been busy so I haven't seen a lot of games, but New England looked like the easier bracket, and we didn't play Maine," Pawcatuck manager Joel Borden said. "New Jersey and Pennsylvania looked like teams with good pitching and catching and high energy, but they didn't have hitting up and down the lineup that we have."

Pawcatuck has run roughshod over competition since topping Waterford, two games to one, in the District 10 tournament last month. The locals outscored state tourney teams, 78-1, en route to the Connecticut title and have continued the drubbings into the Eastern Regionals.

You would figure Pawcatuck will play a tight game sooner or later.

"I am a little worried about how we'll respond in tight game, especially if a team scores a couple of runs early," Borden said. "A lot of people don't realize we're a very young Senior League team. We have one 16 year old and the rest are 15, 14 and 13. Everyone on the team can come back next year."

Borden took Pawcatuck to its first Senior Little League World Series in 2007 with a more experienced squad, paced by four 17-year-olds who were established high school varsity players such as Aubrey Latham, who went on to pitch Fitch to a state title, Elysa Parrilla, a standout at Stonington, and Emily Borden, Grasso Tech's best player.

The current squad features a handful of scholastic varsity starters including three from a 5-14 Wheeler High squad: pitcher Summer Cipriani and infielders Julie Wanstall and Kayla Collins, two from a Class M semifinalist Stonington: center fielder Chiaradio and shortstop Ally Curioso, and one from a strong Fitch team: Roslin Wilhelm.

"This team stands out because all nine in the lineup can hit," Borden said. "All of them haven't made their mark in high school yet because they are so young. Katie Headley, one of our best hitters, was Stonington's backup catcher as a sophomore. Gabi Hoops just finished the eighth grade. Andrea Chiaradio barely pitched at Stonington as a sophomore, but I felt she should have pitched at least half of their games. She's excellent."

Chiaradio pitched five perfect innings in the opener against Westfield, Mass. In the following game, Chiaradio, Cipriani and Jen Paride combined for a five-inning no-hitter. Chiaradio (two) and Cipriani (three innings) teamed to no-hit Manchester, N.H. Tuesday.

Cipriani tripled three times against Manchester, while Hoops, Chiaradio and Collins added two hits each.