Heading into the postseason, the FCIAC softball players were up for grabs.
Saturday’s quarterfinal round proved just that as just half of the higher seeds held on for wins to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals at Trumbull High School.
Top-seeded St. Joseph (18-3) eked out a 1-0 win over No. 8 Ridgefield (11-10) while No. 3 Darien (16-4) squeaked out a 3-2 win over No. 6 Danbury (15-6).
In upsets, No. 7 Trumbull (13-8) continued their late-season surge while topping No. 2 Norwalk (15-6) by a 5-2 score and No. 5 New Canaan (17-4) avenged a regular season defeat to fourth-seeded Fairfield Warde (16-5) by a 4-0 score.
The winners advance to Tuesday’s semifinal round at Trumbull High School. New Canaan will face St. Joseph’s at 3:30 p.m. while Trumbull will square off against Darien at 6 p.m.
Here’s a capsulized look at each of Saturday’s quarterfinal games. (Information has been obtained from the home team’s GameChanger accounts as the “official” books).
ST. JOSEPH 1, RIDGEFIELD 0
In Trumbull, it was a masterful pitchers’ duel as the top-seeded host Cadets pulled out the win by scoring a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Sophia Rodriguez blasted a two-out solo home run to center field to give St. Joe’s the win.
St. Joe’s starter Katie Dzialo gave up just two hits, striking out 14 without giving up a single walk.
Ridgefield’s Caitlin McGratty—who let’s not forget is just a freshman—went toe-to-toe with Dzialo, giving up just three hits in the game. She struck out seven and walked two.
For the Cadets, in addition to Rodriguez’s homer, McKenna Stratton and Mackie Caouette both had singles.
For No. 8 Ridgefield, Jada Metzger had a double to leadoff the game and Sophia Cappiello had a single in the sixth.
TRUMBULL 5, NORWALK 2
Held scoreless through three innings, seventh-seeded Trumbull pieced together five runs over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to knock off the second-seeded Bears.
Madison Pippa had yet another strong out for the Eagles, giving up the two runs on three hits. She struck out 15 and walked just one.
Kylie Lucia had a triple and two singles for Trumbull while Pippa and Ella Ferris both had two hits each.
Two of Trumbull’s five runs were unearned off Norwalk starter Maddie Collins, who scattered nine hits. She struck out four and walked three.
The Bears made four errors in the game.
At the plate for the Bears, Collins had two hits, including a triple while Emily Restaino added a hit. Zoey Wilds had both RBIs for Norwalk.
DARIEN 3, DANBURY 2
Lauren Valji gave the Blue Wave a walk-off win with a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving Darien a 3-2 win over Danbury.
Claire Kissko had singled to open the seventh before Valji blasted a 2-2 pitch to left field to win the game.
Vivian Knott (13 Ks, 1 Walk) returned to the circle for Darien after being injured a couple of weeks ago and the hard-throwing sophomore fired a two-hitter.
Danbury actually jumped on top of Knott early.
Abigail O’Dell opened the game with a lead-off single and moved up to second on a passed ball. She would later score on a dropped third strike, which allowed Sophie O’Connell to reach base.
O’Connell would later score on Avianna Hul’s double, giving the Hatters a 2-0 lead before the Blue Wave even stepped to the plate.
The Blue Wave got one run back almost immediately as Callie McCloskey tripled to lead off the home half of the inning. With one out, Knott hit a hard-ground ball single to right to make it a 2-1 game.
McCloskey finished 3-for-4 in the game as did Kissko. Knott also had another hit, giving her two on the day.
NEW CANAAN 4, FAIRFIELD WARDE 0
New Canaan’s Lauren Fico fired a three-hit shutout as the Rams upset the host Mustangs by a 4-0 score.
Fico struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter as the Rams avenged a 4-2 loss to the Mustangs earlier this season.
The Rams, meanwhile, scored all four of their runs in the top of the seventh inning to snatch the victory away from the Mustangs.
Ella Panagrossi, New Canaan’s No. 9 hitter, started it by singling off Warde pitcher Emily Dowd, reaching safely to start the inning. Panagrossi went to third when Fico’s line-drive to the outfield was played into an error.
A double by Sofia Mallozzi followed, plating the first Rams run of the game.
Marissa DelCarmine followed with a single to score Fico, making it a 2-0 game. A sacrifice fly from Lisa Mallozzi preceded a single by Julia Fittipaldi and just like the Rams were up 4-0.
Fico struck out two of the last three batters she faced to ice it.
Darian DiMuzio also had a hit for the Rams.
Dowd finished the game with 10 strikeouts and four walks for the Rams. Three of the five runs against her were earned.
Sadey Strauser, Dowd and Caitlin Bernardis had the lone Warde hits, all singles.
THE SEMIFINALS
On Tuesday,
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