FAIRFIELD—No trophies were handed out at Sturges Field on this cloud-covered Saturday morning.
That’s the first thing you need to know about the highly anticipated season-opening high school matchup between the Cheshire Rams and the host Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons.
The next thing would be the final score: Cheshire 4, Ludlowe 2.
Two hundred and eighty-five days after Ludlowe won its second straight CIAC Class LL title with a thrilling 3-2, 10-inning win over Cheshire, the two teams got back together to open the 2025 season.
Bailey Vitanza’s two-run single with two outs in the top of the sixth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and delivered the Rams the win.
“I know I had to step up for my team and all the pressure was on me,” said Vitanza, a senior first baseman who will be taking her talents to Milligan University in Tennessee next fall. “Bases were loaded. Two out. I just had to stay calm, and my mentality was simple: Base hit.”
With one out in the inning, it was Lyla Blair who started the rally with a walk. Marina Gronbach then reached on a Ludlowe error and Molly Fleming singled to load the bases.
Ludlowe starter Angie Tavella then notched a strikeout that should have ended the inning, but due to the earlier error Vitanza stepped into the batter’s box.
In the fourth inning, Vitanza had come to the plate with runners on second and third and two out and she grounded out to first base to end the inning.
This time, it was Vitanza’s base hit that gave Cheshire a 3-1 lead it would not relinquish.
“She is a phenomenal leader, a phenomenal softball player and one of the best humans you can meet,” Cheshire coach Kristine Drust said. “For it to happen to somebody, she is very deserving.”
Ludlowe has a couple of question marks entering this season, but the Falcons were not about to roll over.
Gina Solow (2-for-2 with two singles and a walk) led off the home half of the sixth with a single and advanced to second base on Lauren Santa Barbara’s ground out to second. Alexa Mills then laced an RBI single to right center, cutting the Rams lead to 3-2.
“I think what we have here is we have a really unbreakable spirit that allows us to stick our nose in and compete and fight, which we did, which is really good,” said Ludlowe coach Adam Laliberte, who lost a season-opener for the first time in 21-year coaching career. “It’s a really good sign for us going forward.”
With the Falcons back to within a run, though, the Rams also responded.
Jordan McCue led off the top of the seventh with a double off the right-center field fence. She would later score on an infield ground out as the scoreboard click over to a 4-2 Cheshire advantage.
“I mean anytime you get a little insurance run, it’s always good and in that moment, you’re always playing just for one run,” Drust said. “Anytime you’re up by some and you’re coming down to the nitty gritty at the bottom of the sixth, bottom of the seventh, putting up an insurance run is always the goal. So, for us to be able to do that was really key for the confidence of the defense as we went back out there.”
Cheshire starting pitcher Jenica Matos—who scattered five hits around eight strikeouts, two walks and one hit batsman—sat the Falcons down with a 1-2-3 seventh to end the game.
“I was excited,” Matos said. “It was the game that I wanted the most and since last year I’ve been looking forward to this game so much. Just as a team, we’ve been preparing for this game, so I think it’s a step in the right direction for us. I feel like I threw well, and I feel like my defense had my back, and so did my offense, which always feels great as a pitcher.”
It was Ludlowe that struck first in the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Allie Tournas and Solow recorded back-to-back base hits. Santa Barbara then ripped a hard-ground ball, which got under the glove of a Cheshire infielder for an error, allowing Tournas to score and giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
In the fourth, however, Cheshire responded to tie the game.
Tai Byrd (3 walks) and Blair opened the inning with successive walks. With one out, Laliberte opted to walk Fleming intentionally loading the bases.
Addison Coffey came through the clutch for Cheshire, delivering a single to left to tie the game at 1-1.
It was the only inning where Tavella (2 earned runs, 5 hits, 6 walks, 6 strikeouts) struggled with her command in her first career start.
“I thought Angie was straight up awesome,” Laliberte said. “Today, I think we took two unearned runs. We just have to execute at a higher level.”
Despite the defeat, the Falcons, liked what they saw out of their team.
“The future is bright,” said Tournas, a senior captain for Ludlowe. “That’s all I got to say. Angie pitched her butt off. We’re still working on a few things in certain positions, but it was our first game and (Matos) is a great pitcher to start the season off with, but our energy was great.”
While Ludlowe, which is ranked fifth in the state, according to GametimeCT, opened with No. 2 ranked Cheshire, life will not get any easier this coming week.
The Falcons face No. 8 Trumbull on Wednesday and No. 4 St. Joseph on Thursday.
“Isn’t that great?” Laliberte said. “We’re thrown right into the fire, but I think what it does is it’s going to give us a measuring stick. These are the really great teams that are out there in the state, and this is how we match up. Sometimes you’d rather get these teams six, seven games into a season, but we’ve got to play the schedule in front of us, right? So that’s what we’re going to do.”
Likewise, that’s all that Cheshire can do, as well.
The Rams will hit the road again on Monday to face Sheehan, the Class M runners-up from a year ago.
Both squads, however, know the most important games are in June, which means Saturday’s season-opener was just that—the first game of the season.
“A big thing for us was this was the team we lost to last year in the state championship, so our mentality was just keep it simple, pick up where we left off from last year and just stay focused on our ultimate goal—getting back to the state championship game,” Vitanza said.
And, who knows?
These two teams could meet again when trophies are handed out after the game.
Click here to view a Photo Gallery of this game.
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