New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Woodland beats Oxford for first state title
STRATFORD – It had been a perfect ride to the season for the top-seeded Woodland softball team entering Saturday’s contest against Naugatuck Valley League rival Oxford.
In order to complete the perfect journey, the Hawks would need to defeat sixth-seeded Oxford for the fourth time this season.
Behind the hitting of senior Kylie Bulinski and the pitching of junior Samantha Sosnovich, Woodland completed its undefeated season with a 4-0 victory over the Wolverines to take home the Class M title at DeLuca Field in Stratford Saturday afternoon.
The title was Woodland’s first in program history as the Hawks finished the season 26-0.
“This is incredible,” Bulinski said of the team’s title after gaining Most Valuable Player honors with four hits. “It is a great feeling to come home with a banner and to get our rings. I’m excited. We never gave up. We showed up every day and gave it 100 percent. We knew we had one goal in mind at the end of the season and that was to walk home with that banner.”
Sosnovich pitched a gem for Woodland, allowing just two hits while striking out 13. Sosnovich walked just two in the championship victory.
“The first couple of times we played them, I actually gave up a couple of hits and we got down,” Sosnovich said. “So today, I went in with a whole new frame, mixing in more off speed and gassing it up when I had to.
After topping Oxford three times during the season, including the third for the NVL tournament crown, Woodland knew getting off to a quick start was crucial. The Hawks followed suit.
“Yesterday, we were actually talking about to completely forget about the last three games,” Sos
novich said. “This is a brand new game, but beating them four times is insane. It is so exciting. It is great to bring it home, and to be the first team to win the state title is crazy.”
Scoring once in the first and three more in the second, Woodland never looked back.
Isabella Kraemer reached on a one-out error in the first and was followed by a single by Bulinski. When Riley Kane singled to left, Kraemer scampered home with the only run Sosnovich would need.
“We hit every inning,” Woodland coach Loren Luddy said. “We left more runners on base than I would have liked. We should have scored more runs honestly, but they got the job done.”
Sosnovich retired the first nine batters she faced, and allowed the Hawks an opportunity to increase the lead in the second.
Breanna Thurston walked to lead off the second,
moved to third after her stolen base was followed by a single by Rory Nolan, and scored on a one-out sacrifice fly by Kraemer for a 2-0 lead.
With the way Sosnovich was pitching, Bulinski then put the game away with an opposite field two-run homer to left, giving Woodland a 4-0 advantage.
“We have been having difficulties the last few games starting early on the hitting,” Bulinski said. “We
were finally able to jump on them from the beginning. I saw that ball, and I was like, you know what, this is my final game, my last game, might be my last at bat, why not got out with a bang.”
The Wolverines did not have their first base runner until the fourth when Sienna Lucas worked a one-out walk and Lindsey Buinauskas singled to right. Sosnovich ended the threat by recording one of her 13
strikeouts for the final out of the inning.
“We were 100 percent ready,” Luddy said. “We had lots of at bats to watch and know what pitches to throw and what pitches not to throw. Sam (Sosnovich) was fired up today. She had all her pitches today. Kylie (Bulinski) knew exactly what she was doing back there. We were back and forth talking strategy for days. This is what happened in these at bats. They are academic softball players as well. They know the game.”
Oxford had a lead-off single by Meagan Leung in the fifth, and a one-out walk by Lucas in the sixth, but Sosnovich did not allow anything further.
“Our pitcher (Shay Webb) gave us a chance,” Oxford coach Jim Husar said after his team finished the season 22-5. “We did not hit that well. Hats off to her (Sosnovich). She pitched a good game. I’m proud of my girls. No one thought we would be there. That’s fine. That’s where we are. They were a better team. Today, we didn’t play
good enough to beat them.”
Webb gave up 11 hits and struck out two in the loss for Oxford.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Woodland's Samantha Sosnovich and Kylie Bulinski: Sosnovich pitched a gem for Woodland, allowing just two hits, while striking out 13. She walked just two in the championship victory. Bulinski called a great game behind the plate, and finished with three singles, and a tworun homer.
QUOTABLE
“This group 100 percent deserves it. They earned it with all their hard work. They have been working hard for 10 years they have wanted this. They did it.”
— Woodland coach Loren Luddy said of the team’s first title in program history
WOODLAND 4, OXFORD 2
OXFORD ..................... 000 000 0 – 0 2 2 WOODLAND ............. 130 000 0 – 4 11 0 O: W: