PANTHERS POUNCE
No. 3 Masuk, Gallant hand No. 2 Southington first loss
MONROE — Last year’s Class L and Class LL softball state champions never competed on the same field, but Tuesday marked the first of a new tradition in which two of the most successful softball programs in the state will play annually.
No. 3 Masuk hosted No. 2 Southington in what could have been mistaken for a playoff game, given the intense atmosphere.
Southington entered the contest undefeated and averaging 13 runs per game, scoring at least six in every outing — but for the 2021 GameTimeCT All-State MVP, those stats were irrelevant.
“I just wanted to establish the zone and get ahead,” Masuk starting pitcher and Villanova commit Kat Gallant said. “I know they’re all big swingers and really good hitters, so I just wanted to do my best to keep them off balance.”
Gallant threw a complete-game shutout, leading Masuk to a 6-0 victory while holding the prolific Southington offense to just two hits while striking out 14 batters.
“Fourteen strikeouts leave us needing just seven outs in the field,” Masuk coach Leigh Barone said. “I think that’s huge, and (Gallant) came into this game knowing exactly what she needed to do. She knew how good an offense they are, the whole state knows, but she kept going at them.”
Despite walking eight, Gallant snuffed out the Southington rallies, including escaping two bases-loaded jams via strikeouts.
“I knew that my defense had my back and I needed to attack the batters,” Gallant said. “I wasn’t really getting the tight calls and I was trying to hit the corners too much, so I decided to bring it over the plate and trust the defense.”
Southington (13-1) had only struck out 73 times in 389 at-bats as a team (18.7%), but after Gallant’s performance that total was raised to 21.2%.
“We struck out looking probably more today than we have our entire
season,” Southington coach Davina Hernandez said. “We’re normally a very aggressive team, and we weren’t today. They were more aggressive than us, they had more energy than us and they outplayed us.”
Offensively, Masuk (16-1) was sparked by sophomore center fielder Natalie Lieto, who hit two home runs and had four RBIs on the day.
“That was a tremendous piece of hitting on her part,” Barone said. “The two home runs and four runs batted in, she kept us up. She did amazing.”
Catcher Izzy Viglione also contributed to the run total with an RBI single. She also threw out two Southington runners attempting to steal bases.
“I think that was huge for us, just so we could see for ourselves the growth we’ve experienced,” Gallant said. “We’ve worked really hard in practice, so it’s nice for us to leave today with a little more confidence than we came in with.”
Since losing 2-0 on opening day to current No. 1 Ludlowe, Masuk has won 16 straight games.
“It shows the growth of the team from April 2nd to now,” Barone said. “A little over a month and it shows where we are now. We played Ludlowe and St. Joe’s, now we have Southington. These are the games these girls live for. When they play great competition, they know they need to come out here and be their best.”
Southington’s first loss of
the season is one of takeaways for Hernandez and her squad.
“It’s humbling to have a game like that,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes you need a game like this. (Masuk) deserved to win; we just have to be better.”
The two teams will not meet again this year, but the pillars of a new crossconference rivalry have been built.
“I told Leigh (Barone) that I’m very excited to do this because this is the type of team I want to face,” Hernandez said. “Masuk has always been at the top of Class L, so this is something that we’ve been trying to make happen for a couple years, and you only
benefit from a game like this.”
“We want to do this every year,” Barone said. “We don’t get to see a lot of LL teams, so it’s a great experience for our girls to play and see them. It’s not necessarily about the win or the loss, but more about how much it will prepare you for the end of the year.”