The CT Softball Blog

WEST HAVEN—As French writer and journalist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr once penned, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.”

Or, as is said on this side of the pond, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Fourth-seeded Foran and seventh-seeded Woodland Regional are vastly different teams this season than the squads that met up in last year’s CIAC Class M state championship softball game.

After posting semifinal victories on Monday, however, the Lions and Hawks are headed back to UConn’s Burrill Family Field on Saturday for a rematch of last year’s title tilt, which was won by Foran.

The Lions eliminated top-seeded Nonnewaug by a 10-3 count in the first game at West Haven High School’s Frank Biondi Field on while the Hawks topped sixth-seeded Bacon Academy by a 4-1 count in the nightcap.

“We wanted another chance at them, exactly,,” Woodland Regional coach Loren Luddy said. “It’s very exciting to be going back because our seniors wanted to get back (to the title game).”

It will be Woodland’s fifth straight appearance in the Class M championship game. They won in 2022, ’23 and ’24 before falling to Foran last year, 1-0, in 13 innings.

Woodland’s Caitlyn Braun (4 strikeouts, 1 walk) spun a masterful four-hitter while the top of Hawks’ lineup—at least the top four hitters—notched 10 of the team’s 12 hits.

Leadoff hitter Angelena Tottenham was 3-for-4 with a run scored; Ayla DeCrescenzo was 3-for-4 with an RBI; Braun was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and Kate Lisowski was 2-for-4 to pace the Woodland attack.

Braun in the circle, however, simply kept the Bacon Academy hitters off-balance all game long.

“Caitlyn executed on all sides of the field,” said DeCrescenzo, Woodland’s catcher. “She toughed out that lead-off double in the last inning. I saw the stress in her face and then she started pounding it down. She really wanted that and I couldn’t be more proud of her as a catcher.”

DeCrescenzo staked Woodland to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After lead-off hitter Tottenham reached on bunt single and stole second, DeCrescenzo doubled to make it 1-0.

Bacon Academy answered in the home half of the inning when lead-off batter Reina Hill singled and moved all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt attempt. A sacrifice fly by Riley Stolzman tied the game at one-all.

In the second, the Hawks took the lead for good. Lila DiBona reached on an error and after moving up on to second on a ground out, scored when freshman Hannah Murray singled to make it a 2-1 game.

In the third, Woodland gave Braun some breathing room.

With one out, DeCrescenzo singled, giving way to courtesy runner Lilliana Santoro. Santoro scored when Braun delivered an RBI double to right center, advancing to third on the throw home.

With two outs, Emma DeGeorge delivered a single to make it 4-1 completing the scoring.

“We preached this year to have a team bond,” DeCrescenzo said. “We have to win. We need a full team. Everyone needs to hit. Whether you’re hitting in the lineup, on the field, in the dugout, you need to have energy. So, we really had a motivation because no one really thought we would make it here. Everyone was doubting us. We just had a motive to prove everyone wrong.”

For Bacon Academy, Talia Ramos had a double while Stolzman, Gabriella Russo and Ava Galante all had singles.

FORAN 10, NONNEWAUG 3

Earlier in the day, Foran wasted little time jumping on top of Nonnewaug early, scoring five runs in the first inning and never looking back to return to the state title game.

“It kind of takes the pressure off a little bit and they can actually enjoy being in the semi-final, but also it probably excites them to get more runs, for sure,” said Foran head coach Gina Georgetti. “It definitely helps us.”

The first inning, however, could have been vastly different.

With one out, Foran’s Maddie Deldin hit a screaming line-drive to a Nonnewaug infielder, who saw the ball bounce off her glove and roll into the outfield.

The game’s official scorer ruled the play a “hit,” but it kick-started the five-run uprising for the Lions.

Emily Speringo and Olivia Gregory both notched RBI singles while Nyla Jaser had the big play, a bases-loaded three-run double that gave the Lions a 5-0 lead before the third out of the first inning was even recorded.

It also sent Foran’s ace pitcher Abigail Corris, who was in the circle for last year’s title game, onto the field with a big lead.

“I feel like it makes me a lot more confident that I can throw without having to worry about runs coming in and it’s all the credit to my team,” said Corris. “My team does an awesome job with getting runs early just to help me out and it’s huge.”

Ariella Diorio was 4-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI to pace the Foran offense. Norah Bove added two doubles, a run scored and two RBIs from the lead-off spot; Speringo was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI; and Jaser was 2-for-4 with a run scored and her three ribbies to pace the Foran offense. Grace Weber and Deldin added doubles, as well.

Corris finished the game with 11 strikeouts and four walks.

Jordan Kovach had a solo home run for Nonnewaug while Scarlett Ivey, Elizabeth Boisits and Ashlynn Blum added singles. Boisits reached base thrice, including a walk and a hit-batsman.

Had the first inning line-drive been ruled an error, Nonnewaug would have only given up three earned runs in the game.

But Nonnwaug head coach Chris Martin came away impressed with how Foran hit the ball all game long.

“They came out swinging,” Martin said. “I mean 17 hits is 17 hits. They swung the bats very well. A lot of hard hit balls. That’s a very good team over there. But I’m proud of these girls. It was the end of a hell of a season, so I’m not going to let one game dictate how good a season this was for us.”

While Foran will meet Woodland again for the state Class M championship, the CIAC will not set a time schedule for Saturday’s title games until Tuesday’s semifinal round—featuring Class LL in West Haven and Class S at Eastern Connecticut State University—is completed.

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