ECC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT Falcons surprise Wildcats
No. 5 Fitch will play unbeaten Griswold in Friday’s title game
East Lyme — Best friends do things for one another.
Unfortunately for Fitch senior Jo Hobert, the things classmate Susan Mewha have done for Hobert involve pain.
Mewha has accidentally given Hobert a concussion and beaned her in the face with a tennis ball on separate occassions in gym class.
It was perhaps fitting, then, that Hobert was standing in the on-deck circle when Mewha fouled a ball off her ankle to lead off the top of the sixth inning in Wednesday's Eastern Connecticut Conference softball tournament semifinal.
“It's a testing of our friendship,” Hobert said with a grinned. And then Hobert was hit by a pitch. Fortune paid Hobert back later that inning. She scored the go-ahead run on senior Jayden Delaporta's twoout single as the fifth-seeded Falcons knocked off top-seeded Norwich Free Academy 5-3 at Veterans Field.
Fitch (17-6) will try to win its third straight ECC title when it plays at No. 2 Griswold in Friday's final at 7 p.m.
The Wolverines (22-0), ranked
eighth in the GameTimeCT/ New Haven Register Top 10 poll, beat No. 3 Waterford 12-5 in the semifinals.
The Falcons had lost twice during the regular season to the second-ranked Wildcats (19-2), who will be the top seed in the CIAC Class LL tournament.
“They have gotten better each time,” NFA head coach Bryan Burdick said. “I think they could absolutely win the Class L title with that team (Fitch is the defending champion).
“They're experienced, they are veterans, and they play hard. They have so much energy. They did a great job.”
The game was tied at 3 with one out in the top of the sixth when Hobert was hit in the wrist by Beth Fleming.
“I was like, ‘Well, you've got to keep going,'” Hobert said. “‘You can't just sit down and stop,' knowing the role that I have on the team. I had to get going. Once the underclassmen see that, it pushes them harder.”
Senior Cassie Woods followed with a single. Delaporta singled home Hobert with two outs. Senior Nicole Vignato followed with an infield single to score Woods.
“Jo gets hit by everything, but still manages to get around the bases,” Falcons head coach Arielle Cooper said. “But that's the fight in them. That's the heart, and that's what we needed to push us through.”
Delaporta had two hits and three RBI and scattered seven hits to get the win. She threw 13 innings Wednesday as she pitched during a 17-1, six-inning rout of No. 4 Stonington in the quarterfinals earlier in the day.
Hobert and Woods scored twice and sophomore Ally Georgetti had two hits, including a double, and scored.
Junior Shea Gendron hit a solo home run and had two RBI for NFA and sophomore Julie Vincent hit an RBI single. Senior Jordan Nute and freshman Sophia DiCocco both singled and scored, too.
“We didn't execute a couple of things that we should've,” Burdick said. “We hit the ball. We just hit it at people. (Fitch) made plays. I credit them.”
The Falcons credited their non-conference schedule for helping them evolve. They lost early in the season at Pomperaug (16-4), which will be the top seed in Class L.
Fitch beat another Class LL contender earlier in the season, fourth-ranked Southington (4-3, May 9), which has won a state-record 17 state titles.
“I'd rather have the losses and play the great teams then win every single game and not played great teams,” Delaporta said. “It's only preparing us for the end, and that's what we need.” In the quarterfinals: • Hobert went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs as Fitch routed Stonington in a game that ended after six innings.
Woods went 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs for the Falcons and Taylor Wolfgang went 3-for-3, including two doubles and a solo home run, with four RBI.
• Kaitlin Davis had three hits and three runs as Griswold beat Waterford. Lili Stoddard had three RBI for Waterford (14-8).
• Sarah Cote went 3-for-4, including a triple, with five RBI and a run as NFA beat No. 9 Tourtellotte 15-0 in six innings. Bailey Comeau pitched a one-hitter with and had two hits for the Wildcats while Gendron was 3-for-4, including a double and her 100th career hit. Fleming added three hits and an RBI.
• Madison Nott drove in three runs as No. 3 Waterford beat No. 6 Lyman Memorial 7-5. Nott hit a two-run single in Waterford's six-run bottom of the third, giving Waterford a 3-2 lead. Ashley Goldstein was the winning pitcher and Emily Borysewicz doubled for Waterford. n.griffen@theday.com