WILLIMANTIC—Brookfield High School and New Milford, separated by just six miles, couldn’t have taken more diverse journeys to Saturday’s CIAC Class L softball championship showdown.
Top-seeded Brookfield emerged with a heart-stopping 7-6 win over Law in a 15-inning classic before New Milford’s Lydia Rocky tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts and aided her cause with a pair of doubles in a 12-0 win over Waterford in five innings at Eastern Connecticut State on Monday.
The showdown between Brookfield and Law, which eliminated seven-time defending Class L champion Masuk in the quarterfinals, was one of those “you had to see it to believe it” matchups.
It looked like two runs might be enough for one of those teams to punch their ticket into Saturday’s state title game. However, once the game reached the 12th inning, the clutch hits were being delivered at a dizzying rate.
It was one of those games when it seemed to be a cruel twist of fate that the season had to end for one of the two Class L title contenders.
“That is the craziest game of softball I have ever watched at any level in high school, college, on TV, anything,” Brookfield coach Alyssa Lionetti said. “All the props to Jonathan Law, but I am really proud of our comeback three times and coming back to win it in the end. It shows the heart and the absolute love for the game by this team. They play for each other, 15 innings. Our seniors stepped up really big. I couldn’t be any prouder.”
Sophia Scarpa gave Law the 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Brookfield (25-1) had chances to tie the game in the second and fourth innings. In the sixth inning, Lila Conrad led off with a triple and tied the game when she scored on an error.
Neither team could push across a run until the 12th inning. Chloe Capalbo and Addie McKenna-Hansen, the No. 8 and 9 batters for Law, had back-to-back RBI singles. Conrad came through again with a two-run double as Brookfield answered right back.
Law’s Gabby Rodriguez hit a two-run home run in the 13th inning and Lily Stankevich blasted a solo shot in the 14th inning to give the Lawmen chances to close things out. Mary Aurrichio had an RBI triple and scored on Emma Ferguson’s single to send the game to the 14th inning. Samantha Aurrichio tied the game with an RBI single, her fifth hit of the game, to tie things up once again.
“This is probably our longest game that we have ever played,” Samantha Aurrichio said. “It went back and forth, I think our team knew how close our season was to ending and it lit a fire underneath us. Now we have the championship (matchup).”
Law put two runners on in the top of the 15th inning. Sydney Miller, who had 18 strikeouts, retired the next two batters to give the Bobcats a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 15th.
Olivia Sinapi delivered the game-winning single to send Brookfield into the Class L title game.
“That was pretty crazy, we fought hard,” Sinapi said. “We stayed up, we supported each other and we picked each other up when we were down. We never stop fighting.”
While the late-game offensive fireworks can’t be ignored, the game would never have made it to extra innings without some defensive gems for both teams. Law threw out one runner at home and two others at third base. Law first baseman Marina Cosmas dug out a low throw for the final out of the fifth inning. If the ball got past her, at least one run would have scored. Sinapi, the Brookfield shortstop, made some key plays in the field as well.
Miller, the winning pitcher, threw 235 pitches. Law’s Maddy Bonanno tossed 200 pitches.
“Syd is an absolute competitor,” Lionetti said. “Any pitcher in the state who can go from losing back to (being) tied to losing, she is just a fierce kid. I have never seen somebody who wants to win more than she does. I think that is where it comes from. She knows this is her season on the line and she is going to do anything.”
The two catchers – Law’s Capalbo and Samantha Aurricho for Brookfield – also went the distance. Both had key hits and battled behind the plate for 15 grueling innings.
“I can’t feel my legs,” Aurricho said. “It is not a solo win; it is an entire team win. We’ve had each other’s backs all season and we are going to have each other’s backs in the championship game.”
The Class L final will be a rematch of an April 22 game won by New Milford 6-5. New Milford is looking for its first CIAC softball title. Brookfield is in the Class L final for the first time since 2018.
New Milford (23-2) put up three runs in the second and third innings. A double by Rocky, a home run by Krista Manka that was the hardest hit ball in the two games and a Regan O’Loughlin triple helped the Green Wave score six times in the fifth inning to end the game.
Waterford scored 52 runs in three games to reach the Class L semifinals. However, the Lancers couldn’t get one against New Milford’s talented sophomore.
“They are a great hitting team, they are incredible,” Rocky said. “They scored so many runs in the past few games. We just needed to have confidence that we could shut them down.”
An interesting aspect of the Class L final is that Lionetti is a teacher at New Milford High School and has had members of the softball team in her classes.
“I love those kids,” Lionetti said.
The feeling is mutual.
“That is going to be awesome,” Rocky said. “She is a great teacher. It will be incredible. We obviously talked about it as a team so having the opportunity to play against her in the finals will be incredible.”
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