NFA and Fitch advance to ECC softball tournament final.
Wildcats’ pitcher has a record-setting day
Griswold — With all four of Norwich Free Academy's losses this season coming in the eighth inning, you could say NFA coach Bryan Burdick kind of wanted to avoid the number 8 Wednesday afternoon.
“There was NO WAY we were going to the eighth inning,” Burdick said. “I hate the eighth inning. The No. 8, except on (NFA freshman) Sara Cote, is my least favorite thing.”
That's where NFA junior pitcher Beth Fleming came in.
Fleming struck out 16 to lift second-seeded NFA past No. 3 Waterford 1-0 in the semifinals of the Eastern Connecticut Conference softball tournament being played at Griswold High School. In seven innings, no less.
Fleming, who re-established NFA's single-season strikeout record during the game, finishing with 257, faced runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings and didn't flinch. In fact, she got better.
NFA (18-4) will play No. 1 Fitch (22-0) today, with the Wildcats hoping to avenge a pair of regular-season losses to the Fal-
cons, ranked first in Connecticut and 24th in the nation in the most recent MaxPreps Top 25.
Fitch topped No. 4 Stonington 7-1 in the second semifinal, backed by a three-run double in the fifth inning by Jayden Delaporta to break a 1-1 tie and three more runs in the seventh. Fitch beat NFA by scores of 2-1 and 1-0 this season.
“Late in the game, we saw her fastball jump probably 5-6 mph,” Burdick said of Fleming's late-inning mastery to get past Waterford. “When she sees a jam coming up, she pitched out of it or around it. I was truly, truly impressed with her command.”
Fleming was matched for five scoreless innings by Waterford pitcher Kazi Walker, who extracted herself from a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of timely strikeouts. Walker struck out six and allowed just five hits.
NFA took the lead in the sixth. With one out, Cote topped a ball back to Walker but reached first on the play when no one covered the bag. Walker got the second out after a long atbat by Shea Gendron, who fouled off numerous pitches including a near home run. Alexa DeVito doubled, putting runners on second and third.
Brooke Gottshall next hit a hard roller back to the pitcher's mound that got by Walker, allowing the game's only run.
That meant Fleming only needed three more outs and her pitches featured the required zip.
“When the girl got on base (Waterford's Ashlee Hancock singled in the seventh), I knew I had to pick it up the rest of the game,” Fleming said.
Fleming's strikeout record topped the mark of 251, formerly held by 2007 graduate Caitlin Eaton.
“And (Eaton) was pitching from 40 feet,” Burdick said, alluding to the fact that high school pitchers now throw from 43 feet. “I am in awe of some of the things she does out there.” Waterford is 15-7. In the second game, Fitch, playing without all-state catcher Taylor Wolfgang for the fourth straight game due to injury, got in a 1-0 hole early.
Stonington's Mallory Kane walked to lead off the game and scored. Fitch evened the game in the second, however, on an RBI single by Nalissa Amar and the game remained deadlocked through four.
Amar singled to lead off the fifth and Cassie Woods followed with a bunt single. Caroline Taber walked to load the bases and set the stage for Delaporta, who drove the ball on one hop to the left-field fence. Taber had a two-run single in the sixth and Delaporta added an RBI single.
Taber pitched a four-hitter with eight strikeouts for Fitch, which coach Arielle Cooper felt early on was maybe looking forward to another matchup with NFA instead of concentrating on Stonington (17-5, ECC Medium champ).
"I think this was not a good game for us," Cooper said. "We didn't come today thinking they were going to compete with us. It's very frustrating as a coach when you're No. 1 in the state and you don't show up to play ... it doesn't matter who's pitching or who's catching.
"Thankfully, some of our hitters came up big."