DANBURY—The second-seeded Danbury Hatters were down, but certainly not out in Thursday’s lone FCIAC quarterfinal game.
Then Sophie O’Connell stepped to the plate.
The sophomore hit a game-tying grand slam in the bottom of the sixth and Payton Linsley would later single home the go-ahead run as the Hatters bounced back from a four-run deficit to eke out a thrilling 7-6 win over seventh-seeded Fairfield Warde on Thursday afternoon.
The win advances the Hatters to next Tuesday’s semifinal round. Danbury waits to see if it’ll play Trumbull or Ridgefield. The other three FCIAC quarterfinals were all postponed by the fear of rain that never fell on Thursday afternoon.
Trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Hatters rallied
Ava Tong, who just 48 hours after getting cleared to play again after healing from a stress fracture in her back, pitched the Hatters to the No. 2 seed with a win over New Canaan, drew a walk to open the inning.
Analia Duran followed suit with another free pass, though Tong had taken second on a wild pitch.
Avianna Hul singled to left to load the bases for O’Connell.
She took strike one looking, and then ball one, before depositing the third pitch she deep over the right field fence, tying the game at 6-6.
The Hatters weren’t done, however.
T’Aira Walters singled and advanced to second on another wild pitch.
Abby O’Dell then walked before Linsley single to center field, plating Walters and giving Danbury a 7-6 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Warde did get the tying run in scoring position when Ava Russo doubled with one out.
Danbury pitcher Jackie Marks, however, notched a strikeout and induced an infield pop-up, sending the Hatters to the semifinals.
The Hatters actually got on the board first in the bottom of the third.
Hul singled to open the inning, but she was forced out at second on a fielder’s choice by O’Connell. O’Connell advanced to second on an error on the play, though, putting herself into scoring position.
Walters then doubled to center field, scoring O’Connell and giving Danbury a 1-0 lead.
With two outs, Marks singled, scoring Walters to make it a 2-0 game.
The crooked number ignited Warde, however, as the Mustangs scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take a lead.
LJ Borsari singled to open the inning. Russo, looking to sacrifice Borsari over, reached on a bunt single.
Zoey Strauser then laced a single to left, plating Borsari and cutting the Danbury lead in half at 2-1.
With two outs, Martina Kozeracki was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Sadey Strauser. Strauser doubled, plating two, and giving the Mustangs a 3-2 lead.
Julia Fekete followed with a double of her own, scoring two more runs and putting Warde ahead by a 5-2 count.
In the fifth, the Mustangs added another run to make it 6-2. Borsari doubled to lead off the inning. With one out, Zoey Strauser singled to put the Mustangs up by four.
One Danbury rally, however, would not only take away the lead, but put the Hatters on top and the rest is history.
For Danbury, Hul, O’Connell, Walters and Marks all had two hits each. O’Dell and Walters both had doubles.
O’Dell also pitched the seventh notch the save. She struck out two.
For the Mustangs, who now will wait for the start of the state tournament, Russo was 3-for-3 with a double; Fekete was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs; Borsari had her two doubles while Zoey Strauser had two singles.
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