MONROE—When the Brookfield Bobcats arrived at Masuk High for Monday’s SWC softball game, the visitors got off the bus and walked to the field with one mindset.
“Nothing to lose,” was the rallying cry.
So, they didn’t.
Brookfield got a 15-strikeout, two-hitter from junior pitcher Sydney Miller and defeated host Masuk by a 3-1 score on Monday, stopping the Panthers’ 35-game win streak cold.
“I honestly think we went into the game looking to play our best, knowing we had nothing to lose,” said Brookfield’s first-year head coach Alyssa Lionetti. “We lost to them last year, 4-3, so we didn’t put any pressure on ourselves. We just showed up and did our best.”
Miller’s best was more than impressive.
Anybody who knows Masuk knows they are a good-hitting team that can tee up the best of fastballs.
Brookfield approached things in the circle a little bit differently.
“I don’t think I threw a single fastball the whole game,” said Miller, whose arm has hit 65 miles per hour on the gun.
Coach concurred.
“That would be 100 percent accurate,” Lionetti said. “She threw a lot of movement pitches. With them being such a good hitting team, we knew one mistake and they’ll take you over the fence. We worked the corners, worked a lot of breaking pitches. She did her job, that’s for sure.”
The host Panthers, who have won six straight CIAC Class L state championships, actually jumped up on top by a 1-0 score.
In the bottom of the third, Sophia Lieto drew a one-out walk. Julia Bacoulis followed with another walk and with two outs Madison Aguirre walked to load the bases.
Miller and the Bobcats refused to budge from their game plan, however.
No fastballs. Work the corners.
Alyssa Castillo walked with the bases loaded, plating Lieto and putting the Panthers up by a 1-0 score.
In the top of the fourth inning, though, Brookfield answered and took the lead.
With one out, senior Isabella Pontecorvo walked.
The next hitter, sophomore Samantha Aurrichio, facing a 3-1 pitch, hit a home run to left field and suddenly Brookfield was in the lead by a 2-1 score.
In the top of the seventh, Brookfield added an insurance run.
Addasyn Coutts led off with a walk. A wild pitch moved her to second base before a ground ball out by freshman Emma Ferguson advanced Coutts to third base.
With one out, Olivia Sinapi, another freshman, laid down a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into an RBI single, giving Brookfield a 3-1 lead.
That’s all Miller needed.
The junior, who has already verbally committed to play at Brown University after graduation, did walk seven and even hit two batters.
Behind her, however, the Bobcats did not make a single error.
“It was so special,” Miller said. “I know our seniors were so happy, like happy tears, to have gotten to do this. Masuk is such a strong program, such a strong team. Everybody knows them and everybody fears them, but it was a team win.”
For Brookfield, which lost seven seniors from last year’s squad, the win was validation for how deep the program has become.
“I mean we lost seven seniors, and everybody thought it was going to be a rebuilding year,” Lionetti said. “We have a lot of talented underclassmen, so with everybody saying this is a rebuilding year and for us to accomplish this, this is a good feeling.”
The postgame message from the coach to her players was enjoy it in the moment because on Tuesday the Bobcats got back to work.
“That’s for sure. I told them how proud I was, and every single person contributed to that win,” Lionetti said. “I told them our approach was just to show up and play, but we’re focused on looking ahead and working hard. This was a great accomplishment, but there’s a lot of season left and a lot of good teams still to play.”
For the record, though, don’t feel too bad for Masuk.
The Panthers bounced back on Tuesday by beating New Milford by an 8-2 score to improve to 4-1 on the season.
As for Brookfield—which lost to three-time defending Class M champ Woodland Regional, 7-1, to open the season—up next is a home game against Joel Barlow on Wednesday.
The Bobcats are 5-1 and have given up just two runs in their five wins.
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