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Pomperaug High School softball players, front, left to right, Laurel Williams, Ashley Antonazzo and Annabella Pastorok, hold the SWC second-place plaque and trophy Thursday night, surrounded by their teammates. (Ken Morse photo)
By Ken Morse – Special to the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer
The Pomperaug High School softball team made a glorious run to the South West Conference (SWC) championship game. But in the end the Lady Panthers came up one inning short of taking home the biggest trophy and had to settle for the smaller one as runners-up.
Thursday night at Frank DeLuca Stadium in Stratford, the Panthers met up with the Newtown Nighthawks for the third time this season. This game was for all the marbles – the SWC championship.
Newtown came in as the SWC defending champs and won the championship for the third time since 2010 with a convincing score of 11-0. Pomperaug took home the runner-up trophy for the second time since 2011.
The Lady Panthers came in with a lot of momentum after playing their best game of the season when they knocked off Masuk in the semifinals Wednesday night. Laurel Williams and Caley Ruggiero started the game off with back-to-back singles against the Nighthawks Lauren Wilcox.
It appeared that Pomperaug had not lost a step with the number 3-4-5 batters coming to the plate. Kaitlin Flood lined out to third base, Annie Yacavone hit into a fielder’s choice shortstop to third base, and Sam Wisnefsky hit a come backer to the pitcher’s circle.
The missed scoring opportunity played a key role in how the rest of the game unfolded. The lights of a championship game began to burn a little brighter. and the Panthers began to press a little more, trying to make something happen and it all came to a head an inning later.
Pomperaug head coach Paul Masotto said, “If we scored in that first inning, it could have been a whole different ball game. I wasn’t about to do anything foolish like trying to bunt with my 3-4-5 hitters coming up, especially with the way we came right out and started hitting the ball. But if you look at all of our losses this year, three of them had the same thing happen – one inning when it all fell apart and they just couldn’t find their way back again.”
Two errors and two infield hits began the downfall in the bottom of the second inning. A run-scoring single from Emily Bell and a sacrifice fly from Tess Mubarek opened up a 2-0 Newtown lead.
Pomperaug second baseman Annabella Pastorok flips the ball to shortstop Sam Wisnefsky to get the Newtown runner during the SWC championship game Thursday. (Ken Morse photo)
Ashley Antonazzo fielded one back to the pitcher’s circle, throwing to Flood and cutting down the runner at the plate for the second out. The Panthers were almost out of the woods when a bases-loaded walk made it a 3-0 game.
Then disaster struck. Katie Laaksonen found a gap in right field, sending a run-scoring single, but an error on the relay throw sent another run across the dish. Mali Klorczyk ended all doubt, clearing the bases with a threerun inside-the-park homer. When the smoke cleared, the Nighthawks stood tall with an 8-0 lead.
Brooke Anderson reached on a dropped third strike in the third, and Flood hit a two-out single in the sixth for the only two Pomperaug base runs for the remainder of the game.
“As disappointing as it is to lose this game, we can’t be too upset,” said the Panthers junior pitcher Antonazzo, who put everything into perspective. “We had a great season and we made it to the championship game of the SWC. That has to count for something. We are a good team, and we will bounce back from this in the states.”
Newtown tacked on a few more tallies, scoring a run in the third on a double from Mubarek and a ground out and adding two more in the bottom of the sixth with Mubarek and Mackenzie Macchiarulo getting RBI hits.
“We had our ups and downs this year but we’ve had a great season,” said senior Annabella Pastorok. “We had some ugly wins as our coach would call it. The win against Masuk was one of the best games I’ve ever been a part of. To be part of a team that has had the success we’ve had over these past four years has been phenomenal. And we are looking forward to the states and doing our best.”
The 18-5 Pomperaug Lady Panthers are ranked fifth in the Class L Division and will have a first round bye. They will play at home Wednesday, June 1, at 4 p.m. against the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between Berlin and Sheehan.
The Pomperaug Panthers baseball team also will play in Class L. They are ranked 12th and will play at home on Tuesday, May 31, at 3:30 p.m. against 21st ranked 11-9 Wethersfield.
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