When Friday started, they were: The Diamond Dozen, 12 teams undefeated in this high school softball season.
Then the first pitches were thrown.
Three of the state’s undefeated high school softball teams fell on Friday, bringing that number down to nine. Truth be told, it could be lower as a couple of Class S schools half played far fewer games and left them unreported to the CIAC.
As of the middle of the week, 14 teams had yet to be beaten.
On Wednesday, Windsor lost its first game to Glastonbury, 3-2, and Oxford fell to Holy Cross 5-4, as both fell from the unbeaten ranks.
Friday proved to be a rougher day for the unbeatens however.
Two undefeated teams went head-to-head as Class S Coventry eked out a 7-5 win over Class LL Middletown; Ridgefield suffered its first loss of the season to FCIAC rival St. Joseph’s (5-2); and Enfield was blanked by Ellington by a 5-0 score.
Class LL and Class L are now left with one unbeaten team each while Class M has two and Class S has the other five.
The remaining nine unbeatens are a combined 55-0 on the season, but plenty of games remain on the docket.
Who knows where these teams will end up come late May? Could any hoist trophies when all is said and done? Certainly.
Right now, with just 10 days left in April, these are nothing more than teams off to a pretty good start.
Let’s take a quick look at those who still have goose eggs on the right side of the column.
CLASS LL
MALONEY (8-0) — One reason why the Spartans are undefeated is because they eked out a 7-6 win over Lewis Mills back on April 9. For the record, it’s the only time this season Maloney has been held to single digits in runs scored this season.
CLASS L
MASUK (9-0) — One team that didn’t lose on Friday was Masuk. The Panthers made the trip to New Fairfield on Friday and ran their record to 9-0 with an 10-3 win. A huge non-league game against (also undefeated) North Branford is a week away, though, so stay tuned.
CLASS M
STONINGTON (8-0) — The Bears avoided the “Black Friday” jinx, albeit it barely. Stonington edged Griswold by an 11-10 count to stay undefeated on the season. Coach Ann Marie Houle’s squad, however, is used to winning close games. The win is Stonington’s fourth one-run win in eight games.
KAYNOR TECH (5-0) — Kaynor Tech is in a six-day stretch with no games, having bested Vinal Tech by a 15-0 score on Tuesday. The team is back in action on Monday, facing O’Brien Tech. O’Brien Tech is 3-1 so stay tuned.
CLASS S
NORTH BRANFORD (7-0) — The Thunderbirds have a hellacious schedule coming up (back-to-back games against Ellington and Masuk on April 25 and 27, respectively) and a big showdown Monday against Hall-Ray. For now, though, coming off an 11-1 win over Haddam-Killingworth on Wednesday North Branford is 7-0 on the season.
SHEPAUG VALLEY (7-0) — Shepaug lost Thursday’s game against New Milford due to weather but posted a 9-1 win over Housatonic Regional on Friday to stay unbeaten. The Berkshire League-based Spartans notched a big 1-0 win over Newtown back on April 10.
COVENTRY (7-0) — The Patriots knocked Middletown from the unbeaten ranks with a 7-5 win on Friday. The squad has plenty of tough games left, however. This includes another Class LL opponent in Norwich Free Academy (4-2) on Monday and later season dates with Haddam-Killingworth and E.O. Smith.
UNIVERSITY/CLASSICAL (4-0) — This squad is listed as undefeated, according to the CIAC website, but as of Saturday afternoon was still missing its Friday score against Aerospace/Bloomfield. In those four games, U/C has scored 68 runs.
ST. BERNARD (2-0) — “Officially”—at least as official as the CIAC’s online standings are official—St. Bernard is undefeated at 2-0. Of course, the schedule says St. Bernard played thrice last week (Monday vs. Griswold, Wednesday vs. Plainfield, Friday vs. Fitch) but none of those scores have been reported, if they were played. So, the team is 2-0 with three questions marks—???
Who will survive the regular season? Any of them?
There’s another month to go, so stay tuned.
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