Ludlowe stymied by Southington again
Knights ground Falcons a year after denying them state title
STRATFORD — The Class LL softball semifinals took place Monday as the four remaining teams in the tournament battled for a spot in the state championship game. Danbury, Bristol Central, Southington and Fairfield Ludlowe laid it all out on the field, but at the end of the day it was the two CCC teams left standing. Ludlowe-Southington was a rerun of last year’s Class LL state championship game in which Southington defeated Ludlowe on a walk-off hit for its 19th state title in program history.
Now meeting in the semifinals, Southington proved once again to be Ludlowe’s kryptonite with a 7-3 victory for its third straight state championship appearance.
While the end was less dramatic than that of a year ago, there was plenty of back-and-forth before Southington pulled away.
Ludlowe wasted no time, scoring two runs in the top of the first on a two-out two-run single by third baseman Katie Tournas.
Southington answered in the bottom half, however, as shortstop Sam Rogers connected for a tworun home run to reset the score.
“If you look back at our games this year, we have answered back immediately almost every time a team has scored,” Southington coach Davina Hernandez said. “That’s something that the girls have done a really good job of. We always say get it back and more, and that’s exactly what they did.”
A half-inning later, Ludlowe shortstop Elena Ohe went deep as well, connecting for a solo shot just out of the reach of Southington center fielder Ashlyn Desaulniers for a 3-2 lead.
The Falcons’ lead would stand for an inning before Southington starting pitcher Sam Sullivan helped her own cause by driving in Desaulniers with a base knock in
the third inning.
Sullivan returned to the mound after allowing runs in each of her first two frames and found her groove, sending the Falcons down in order.
“(Fairfield Ludlowe) is obviously a powerhouse team,” Hernandez said. “We knew what they brought to the plate, and we knew how strong they were going to be, but once we settled in, we were fine.”
In the bottom half of the fourth, Southington broke out for four runs starting with a suicide squeeze by Maddie Furniss. A batter later, senior catcher Kaitlynn Griffin drove in two with a line drive down the first-base line for a 6-3 lead.
Later in the inning, Desaulniers drove in the final run of the game on a sacrifice fly to score junior Emma Quint.
Sullivan earned the win, completing four innings while allowing one earned run (two unearned) on two hits, while relievers Stella Blanchard and Furniss combined for three shutout innings to close it out.
Southington advances to the final for the third year in a row. The Blue Knights will look for a third straight championship and the 20th in program history against a familiar opponent in
Bristol Central.
“We’ve seen them twice so far this year,” Hernandez said. “I think we know them pretty well, as we’ve played them twice in the last three weeks. They have very good pitching and they’re like us where they use more than one. They have good bats as well, so we’ll need to have the control on the mound.”
As the No. 1-ranked team in the state entering the tournament, Ludlowe sees its season come to an end with a record of 25-2.
“I think we exceeded expectations,” Ludlowe coach Lou Bunosso said. “If you asked me at the beginning of the year if we would finish 25-2 and being No. 1 in the ranking all season, I would have said no. They came a long way, and I’m really proud of them. I think we’ll be back next year.”