The 2026 high school softball season here in Connecticut gave us plenty of moments to remember for a long time to come.
One of those moments, however, came not just straight from Hollywood—but straight from Cheshire, you could say.
It also gave fans and sportswriter a moment to second guess in the days that followed.
The Cheshire Rams were deadlocked in a scoreless tie with Jonathan Law in a Southern Connecticut Conference championship game that finally went to extra innings.
Something at some point had to give.
Finally, in the bottom of the eighth inning, it did.
The lead-up to The Moment was this:
Cheshire’s Addy Coffey, hitting out of the No. 8 hole for Coach Kristine Drust’s Rams, battled back from a 1-2 count to earn a lead-off walk.
“I was just looking for a strike, looking for a pitch,” Coffey told the CT Softball Blog after the game “Obviously not looking to get walked, but that’s how it ended up. But it definitely got a lot of momentum going.”
Up next, Cheshire’s No. 9 hitter, Avery Miramant, led down a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt, pushing Coffey to second base as the winning run.
Up to the plate stepped Cheshire’s senior second baseman Jordan McCue. As in the UConn-bound McCue. The McCue who was hitting close to .600 and went 4-for-4 in the SCC semifinals.
Everybody at West Haven High School’s Frank Biondi Field thought McCue would be intentionally walked.
Instead, Jonathan Law’s coaching staff pitched her.
Three pitches later, it was all over.
Facing a 2-0 count, McCue blasted a two-run, championship-winning home run over the left field fence, giving the Rams the SCC title.
“I was expecting to get intentionally walked, but then I saw her start pitching so I was like, ‘Oh, maybe it’ll just be all outside pitches,’” said McCue, who was named the Dani Kemp MVP of the game. “And then I saw the pitch in the middle and I jumped on that opportunity. I was not expecting it, but I’m grateful for it.”
For Drust, it was just another magical McCue moment, one she had seen so many times over the player’s four-year career at Cheshire.
“I’m really happy for her and there’s truly nobody that is more deserving of this than that girl,” Drust said.
When asked postgame where the moment might rank in her career, McCue put it at the top.
“It might be top one, honestly,” McCue. “Being in a situation like that and just being able to produce for our team, and seeing how hard everybody, especially how hard (starting pitcher Jenica Matos) worked to keep this game tight, because obviously in our our bats weren’t really doing anything. I feel it’s great to be able to do that and help everybody out. It’s just great.”
It was a great moment—the first “Moment of the Year” in the CT Softball Blog’s Diamond Awards.
(Editor’s Note—Up next: The CT Softball Blog’s Diamond Awards Game of the Year.)
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