The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
T’birds win fourth straight Shoreline crown
LYME — When a trio of talented freshman joined the North Branford softball team in 2015, the Thunderbirds had won just two Shoreline championships.
Four years later that same trio, now seniors, walked off Old Lyme high school’s field as conference champions for the fourth time, giving North Branford six conference titles.
With the help of all three seniors — starting pitcher Sydney Senerchia, second baseman Olivia Hemstock and first baseman Danielle Ramada — the Thunderbirds completed the four-peat with a 2-1 win over Hale-Ray on Sunday.
The three seniors have never lost a league title.
“It’s unbelievable, especially for the senior class,” North Branford coach Nick DeLizio said. “They came in as freshman ready to battle, all three started, which is rare. They took what we laid out in 2015, from those seniors who built the foundation.”
Senerchia allowed just three hits and struck out eight, while Hemstock scored the eventual gamewinning run and Ramada played flawless defense at first.
“We came in as freshman and the team wasn’t really known for their softball to begin with,” Senerchia said. “And I feel like the three of us came in and we tried to make the best impact we could and now her we are as seniors with our fourth Shoreline championship. I couldn’t be more proud of us.”
The quest for the fourpeat had a rocky start.
Hale-Ray, which was shut out by North Branford earlier in the season, jumped on Senerchia early.
A one-out walk, folOLD lowed by an RBI triple by Erin Molkenthin gave the Noises an early 1-0 lead.
“Offensively I was really proud of their performance,” Hale-Ray coach Sue Miner said. “Sydney is a fantastic pitcher and for us to hop on it early in the game, put some pressure on (them) and took some off of us.”
The Thunderbirds did feel the pressure, and how could they not. They hadn’t trailed all season up until the first inning of the title game.
“It was a good test mentally for us,” DeLizio said.
That was all Hale-Ray got as Senerchia settled down and mowed them down.
“With the ball in Sydney’s hand, you definitely feel confident. She brings it game in and game out,” DeLizio said. “You just feel confident, the team feels confident. She puts the team on her back.”