Gates, Lauralton lock up state title
Posted on Jun 08, 2008
By Mike Cardillo, June 8, 2008
Photos by Autumn Pinette
©2008CONNECTICUT POST (Used with permission)
STRATFORD - No, Lauralton Hall starter Bridget Gates didn't finish the Class M championship game perfect, not that it mattered much with the inspired defensive effort behind her.
Riding the strong pitching of Gates, a dash of small ball, some savvy strategy and near flawless defense Lauralton Hall won 1-0 over No. 5 Suffield Saturday at DeLuca Field for the third state championship in school history.
Gates carried a perfect game through 5 innings and lost her no-hitter with two outs in the seventh. "I'm just happy we won it," said Gates, who also scored the game-winning run and was named the game's MVP. "(A no-hitter) was on my mind in the seventh and that's probably what jinxed it."
That might have been the only thing that went wrong for the No. 7 Crusaders (22-4) who made a couple heads-up plays which proved to be the difference. It made up for a lack of production off Suffield (21-4) starter Angie Moska, who only let one ball out of the infield.
"I don't think we had a single practice where we weren't diving on the ground and making plays," Lauralton Hall sophomore Kiley Baird said. "Every practice we were striving for a state championship."
The skills drilled home during those practice sessions reared up in the second inning, when Gates led off with a infield single that deflected off Moskwa.
Gates moved to second on a sacrifice by Becca Napolitano and sneakily swiped third on a delayed steal.
With one out and Gates on third, Baird was called on to squeeze. She got the bunt down on the first pitch and it was fielded by Wildcats' third baseman Taylor Bartini, who threw home to Julie Muscarella.
Gates charged down the line and the throw might have beaten her to the plate, but her feet-first slide did enough to jar the ball loose for the game's only run.
"I got the sign and I knew no matter what pitch it was I had to get it down," said Baird, who later prolonged Gates' no-hitter with a diving catch in foul territory in front of third base in the fifth inning.
Given a one-run lead Gates went to work, retiring the first 16 Suffield batters in order until Napolitano couldn't cleanly field a one-out grounder to second in the sixth by Muscarella.
Muscarella's trip to first didn't last too long. On the first pitch to the next batter, Lauralton Hall pitched out and catcher Courtney Collins threw to Napolitano - who trailed behind the runner - at first. "We knew they played small ball and we didn't execute on a few plays," Suffield coach Johanne Presser said.
Suffield threatened in the seventh, when down to its last out, Jenn Thresher singled solidly up the middle.
Michelle Niejadlik reached on a fielder's choice to put two runners on base. After a short conference on the mound, Sam Cieri lined the first offering from Gates to shortstop Nikki Maier for the final out.
"When it came to the final out, we all knew what we needed to do and we did it," Gates said. This was the first state title for Crusaders coach Theresa Napolitano at the school. She had previously won four championships at Amity before taking over at Lauralton Hall in 2006.
"These are all special in their own way. You never get used to it," she said. "The girls bought into what we were trying to do from the beginning and today they saw the goal at the end."
It was the first state title for Lauralton Hall since 2005 when Tom McDonald, who was in attendance Saturday, was the coach.
The game took only an hour and 15 minutes to play.
Class M softball final at DeLuca Field, StratfordSUFFIELD 000 000 0 - 0 1 0
LAURALTON HALL 010 000 x - 1 2 1
Records: Suffield 21-4; Lauralton Hall 22-4
Batteries: S - Angie Moskwa (L, 21-4) and Julie Muscarella; LH - Bridget Gates (W, 18-4) and Courtney Collins