BRISTOL—As the St. Paul Catholic softball season got off to a good start, veteran head coach Gary Hovhanessian knew he hadn’t seen the best out of his Falcons.
That was because he knew his team wasn’t facing the best competition yet, either.
As the opponents got tougher, however, so too did the Falcons, who were tested multiple times up through the end of the regular season, the Naugatuck Valley League tournament and last week’s CIAC Class S state tournament run to the championship game.
“We weren’t taking anything for granted,” Hovhanessian said of his team’s 7-0 start to the season. “We talked it about it over the course of the season. When we were winning some of those games against teams that weren’t that great, we always talked about playoff time, when we had to maybe win games 2-1, 1-0, 3-2. We hadn’t had that yet.”
Truth be told, the Falcons still haven’t.
Over the course of the whole season, St. Paul has been involved in just one one-run game—a 1-0 win over Holy Cross back on May 8.
On Sunday, the Falcons battled a strong North Branford team to the very end, falling by a 4-2 score to North Branford in their second closest game of the season.
In its four-game run through the state tournament, St. Paul has out-scored its opponents by a 32-5 count, as well.
“We handled the three games we’ve had, but we’re still in that mode,” Hovhanessian said. “How do we proceed in a one run, two run, game? Do we have to play small ball? We know we can play great defense.”
The Falcons strived for a perfection that never truly came, but it was the quest to be as perfect as they can be that has given the St. Paul team the motivation to succeed.
The Falcons were led by four seniors—Taylor Williams and Lauren Kozlak, who led on the field and in the line-up, while Josie Avritch and Adelyn Ouelette were always supporting their teammates from the dugout and ready when called upon.
Kozlak was a first baseman-pitcher while Williams played center field for the Falcons.
In the circle, Breyona Demora had shined as a sophomore, stepping up into a big role while firing the ball to junior catcher Stella Boucino.
“During the season, Breyona has pitched in some of our more difficult games and she throws heat,” Hovhanessian said. “And Stella behind the plate, we needed a catcher this year, and Stella not only did a great job but replaced an All-State quality catcher, too.”
With Kozlak at first and ready to pitch if needed, the Falcons have freshman Peighton Gaimba at second base; junior Isabella McCullough at shortstop; and sophomore Lili McCullough at third base.
In the outfield were junior Julia Kozlak in left and Laila McCullough in right, sandwiching Williams in center.
Sydney Yankavich, a sophomore, served as the DP for St. Paul.
Hovhanessian also credited his staff—Sarah Marci, Blair Soucy, Ron Miller and former SPC player Sarah Miller with having the Falcons ready to make this kind of postseason run.
The Falcons chased their first state title right up to the seventh inning of the very last game of the season, but simply fell short.
“We’ve said since school has been open, we have never won a softball championship, so this (was) a chance to make history,” the coach said.
At 23-4 on the season, the Falcons came so close to making that history.
Losing just two starters, though, don’t think the Falcons don’t have the talent to return to the state title game next year.
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