STORRS—Before Jenica Matos made one last stroll out to the circle for the final inning of her illustrious high school softball career, Cheshire High coach Kristine Drust pulled her aside and coached her for one last time.
“Go finish your story,” Drust told her right-handed ace.
Three outs later, Matos did just that, notching her 15th and final strikeout of the game, the exclamation point on the Rams’ 2-0 win over Southington, giving Cheshire its second straight Class LL championship at UConn’s Burrill Family Field on Saturday morning.
“It feels amazing,” said Matos, who is taking her talents to St. John’s University in the fall. “We worked all season for this, since last season. We had the feeling of winning a state champions and we wanted to do it again with this group of girls, especially for our senior year. We just went out with a great win. It was a battle the entire game, but we just pulled through.”
If the Rams did have a rally cry this season it could easily have been “Get Jenica A Run” because many times that’s all that was needed.
Over 27 games this season, Matos had an earned run average of 0.08. She had 19 shutouts on the season.
The Rams gave her the run in the bottom of the second inning.
With one out, Blake Hall was hit by a pitch before Addy Coffey poked a shot into the gap in left center. Pinch runner Chloe Marciano raced to third on the play with Coffey moving up to second on the throw.
Enter No. 9 hitter Avery Miramant. The junior right fielder laid down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring Cheshire’s first run of the game.
“I was just thinking I need to get this down,” Miramant said. “I need to get this down for my team, one last time, especially for my pitcher who worked so hard out on the field. I just needed to get it down.”
Matos simply kept doing her thing.
She retired 14 straight Southington batters before the Lady Knights’ got a single for Savanna Ellison with two outs in the fifth inning.
Matos struck out the next batter to end the inning.
She then set down the final six Southington batters in order, as well.
Two of the last three batters fouled off 10 two-strike pitches against Matos, who kept battling in her 107-pitch performance.
“She’s just amazing every day, but we all knew she was going to be fire in her last game,” said Cheshire catcher Molly Fleming. “She’s just awesome and it motivates her more when she gets behind in the count, but we don’t ever have a doubt about if she’s going to get them out of not because it just fires her up even more.”
The Rams added an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning.
Lyla Blair singled down the third baseline. She was sacrificed to second by Avery Radford and scored when Olivia Rydzy doubled down the left field line.
If the first run was enough, a second run was more than breathing room.
It all but clinched Cheshire’s second title for the Rams, who have now won 31 straight dating back to last year’s title run.
“This is a team that I wish I could bottle up because it’s just a dream come true when this is your passion to coach a team like that,” Cheshire head coach Kristine Drust said. “A bunch of amazing humans and families. I’m just grateful. I’m grateful for our relationships. I’m grateful for wins and wins are great and we all want wins. I’m just grateful that I got to coach along these coaches and just have a team like this. It’s just really special.”
After seeing Matos pitch over the course of her career, Drust certainly wasn’t surprised by Saturday’s performance.
“Jenica Matos is just a special, special kid and player,” Cheshire’s 13th year head coach said. “She defines that. She just defines what a competitor is. If we’re talking about sports and we’re talking about elite competitors, we’re talking about Jenica Matos. It’s just special to watch.”
While Eliasson’s safety was the lone hit—and the only Southington player to reach base—the Blue Knights were still pleased with their season, according to head coach Michelle Boisvert.
It was Southington’s first title game appearance since 2023 when the Lady Knights lost to Fairfield Ludlowe, 5-2.
“I am extremely proud of them because nobody picked them to go as far as we went,” Boisvert told GametimeCT’s Scott Ericson. “For them to get here was the biggest win. They did more than anyone thought you could do.”
Cheshire losers a big senior class led by Matos, Fleming, Coffey, Blair, Radford, Ava Pearson, Jordan McCue, Callan Fleming, and Celeste Elliot.
Southington’s seniors who bid the high school adieu include: Addison Lasek, Reece Archer, Amber Ramey, Alexa Poutouves, Olivia Gombotz, Aubrey Perugini, and Angie Insogna.
Southington finished the year 22-4.
CLASS LL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP SLIDESHOW
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