High school teams are ‘blessed’ with more choices on the mound
In the CIAC softball world, the old adage “pitching wins championships” is pretty well substantiated.
Last year, Masuk won the Class L championship with Kat Gallant pitching every inning, and Southington won its second Class LL title with Julia Panarella on the mound.
Seymour’s Erin Lifrieri threw 157 innings last year and led Seymour to the Class M title, while Hall made its Class LL semifinal run behind Sophie GarnerMacKinnon’s arm all season long.
This year, while champions have yet to be decided, the pitching landscape has a different look to it.
Not every team has a Gallant or Garner-MacKinnon to head their rotation, leaving them at a perceived disadvantage. Looking at the current GameTimeCT Top 10 poll, however, it seems as if teams are finding success through alternative methods.
“I think there is always an advantage to having more pitchers,” Hall coach Rebecca Lewis said. “It helps you manage innings and manage fatigue. You’re able to mix things up midgame for hitters to give them a different look.”
Half of the current top 10 teams regularly use multiple pitchers, while nine of 10 have used at least two during the season.
“I have seen a shift to teams going to more pitchers,” No. 6 Waterford coach Andrew Walker said. “I know NFA has multiple pitchers, and we have three, actually. We’re lucky in that respect, obviously giving Maddie (Burrows) a little rest in between starts is helpful. We feel confident with any of the three of them.”
While Masuk and Hall will still roll out their nextlevel aces, teams such as No. 1 Fairfield Ludlowe, No. 2 Southington and No. 4
Woodland are finding similar success by committee.
“I believe that coaches do whatever they have with the people they have,” Woodland coach Loren Luddy said. “Riley (Kane’s) freshman year, she threw every single game. Now I’m blessed to have Riley and Sam (Sosnovich), that can throw against any team at any time. I use them both because I can.”
Woodland is currently 18-0, and the pair of Kane and Sosnovich have allowed just seven runs all season. Sosnovich has pitched 481⁄3 innings while Kane has 441⁄3 innings pitched and four others have combined for 11 innings to the tune of a 0.41 ERA.
Kane has started nine games while Sosnovich has started eight.
“I definitely think it works better to have the two,” Luddy said. “Especially in my case because they both play shortstop. But they get a break from the mental and physical pressure all the time.”
For No. 1 Fairfield Ludlowe, the pitching methodology has been more extreme.
“Our pitching keeps us in the game every day,” Ludlowe coach Lou Bunosso said. “We have two really good pitchers who could be a starter on any team. I can start either one of them but they’re selfless, so I usually ask Alex (Lewey) to start and Anna (Gedacht) to relieve.”
The top team in the state has used the sophomore Lewey (10-0 with a 1.85 ERA in 56.2 innings) as the starter while junior Gedacht (3-1, 9 saves, and a 0.84 ERA in 50 innings) would enter in the middle innings.
This week was the first time either pitcher completed her own game, as Lewey threw a one-hitter against Warde on Monday and Gedacht no-hit Wilton on Wednesday.
“I think pitching is the key to this team,” Bunosso said. “Which is a little different than years past when we have been more of an offensive juggernaut.”
No. 2 Southington and coach Davina Hernandez, who has been used to Panarella at the head of the rotation, has mixed in three pitchers in a single game.
“The big thing for us is we will be using multiple pitchers this year,” Hernandez said after Southington’s 18-4 win over Hall. “I plan on using two to three pitchers every game, at least.”
Southington has followed that formula throughout, with Sam Sullivan starting 12 of its 15 games so far with 342⁄3 innings pitched.
Stella Blanchard has started once and has compiled 32 innings, while Maddie Furniss also has one start and 232⁄3 innings pitched. Dom Gaudio has gotten 41⁄3 innings on the mound as well, including a start. The four have combined for a 1.76 ERA and a 14-1 record.
Even No. 3 Masuk has changed its game plan from last year, as freshman Julia Bacoulis has pitched 261⁄3 innings against Gallant’s 832⁄3. Bacoulis has thrown two no-hitters and holds a 0.80 ERA over five starts.
While Gallant will take the ball in big contests, Bacoulis has been there to give her a rest in games that are expected to be won.
“It helps to have two pitchers. What some teams do is use the best for good teams and the secondary pitcher for the less competitive teams,” Seymour coach Ken Pereiras said. “Which gives the better pitcher a break, which helps.”
No. 6 Waterford, No. 7 East Haven and No. 9 St. Joseph have implemented similar strategies.
“I know Ludlowe does it this year where they’re switching no matter what,” East Haven coach Jeff Crisafi said. “I’ve seen St. Joseph has used two, but in the SCC I haven’t really seen it. There are some teams that switch every other game, but not usually two in one game unless one runs into trouble.”
St. Joseph’s Lauren Wasikowski was named firstteam all-state last year, but in the Cadets’ game against Ludlowe, Brooke Buzzeo was given the start and Wasikowski relieved. Wasikowski has started 11 and appeared in 14 of St. Joseph’s 16 games, while Buzzeo has started four and appeared in seven.
Waterford all-state ace Maddie Burrows has seen the majority of innings, but Anna Dziecinny has been a key part of the rotation since last season, with freshman Brielle Kenney joining this year. Against Ludlowe, Dziecinny got the start with Burrows coming into relief.
East Haven has bounced between Emilee Bishop and junior Lily Gagnon, similar to the way it bounced between Bishop and Tori Heaphy last season, though primarily went with Bishop in the postseason.
Many coaches agree having more than one above-average pitcher is a luxury that is becoming more common.
With more and more summer programs popping up such as the CT Charmers, CT Seahawks, CT Impact, CT Mirage and others, more and more high school coaches are being gifted with a plethora of pitching compared to past years.
“I think our travel and summer programs have growth throughout the state,” Hall coach Lewis said. “I think the national coverage of college softball helps pique interest and gets players playing at a younger age because they are seeing it on TV. The growth of the sport in Connecticut I think is why teams have the ability to have more than one pitcher now.”
While Lewis currently does not have that luxury, she does have the luxury of having a Duke-committed ace.
“I am biased, but I would argue that Sophie (Garner-MacKinnon) is the best pitcher in the state,” Lewis said. “If you have two above-average pitchers but you don’t have that one ace, you’re going to want to strategically be splitting games to mix things up.”
Of course, some coaches find themselves luckier than most.
“Most teams have one,” Pereiras said. “Woodland has two pitchers where the second one is as good as the first; not a lot of teams have that.”
“When you have more pitchers, you can give teams more that they have to prepare for,” Lewis said. “It’s a luxury I hope to have one day.”