Newington Softball Ends Eagles’ Tourney Hopes

Newington's Maddy Ellis, Cyan Gonzalez, Dani Pantano, and Rachel Thureson celebrate between innings during the Indians 13-0 victory over Wethersfield last Tuesday.

Newington softball visited Wethersfield High School and ended any chance of the home team making the state tournament, blanking the Eagles 13-0 last Tuesday.

“Offensively we’re hitting the ball well, we’re getting contributions from a lot of kids,” Newington coach Steve Markie said following win #11, “We’ve had a lot of kids injured throughout the course of the season, so now we’re hopefully getting more players back and can get a little better defensively.”

Dani Pantano allowed only three hits in five innings to earn the victory and Amaia Jackson didn’t allow a hit over the final two innings, picking up the save.

It was the team’s second shutout this season and a positive sign for Markie and his staff.

“Dani has pitched well the whole year. She’s had some games were unfortunately our defense hasn’t been great and she’s been a hard-luck loser, but overall she’s pitched great for us.”

As they have done all spring, Rachel Thureson and Cyan Gonzalez carried the team from the plate, combining for seven hits, four runs, and four RBIs. The seniors have provided the bulk of the offense, leading the team in nearly every statistical category.

“I can’t speak highly enough about either one of them. They’re phenomenal softball players, and kids and leaders,” Markie said of his dynamic diamond duo, who share the captain’s duties with Pantano, “They’re the glue and all three of them have been awesome, but we can’t count on just one or two kids. That’s what we’ve tried to get them to understand, what if {Cyan} has a bad day, what if Rachel has a bad day? It’s possible, they’re human. Other kids have to be able to pick them up, and as you saw today other kids stepped up.”

The loss dropped Wethersfield to 6-13, eliminating them from tournament consideration for the second straight season.

Despite falling short, the strides made this season are the latest steps in a journey of a team learning how to win.

“We’re starting a lot of young kids, we only have one senior in our program,” said Wethersfield coach Colleen Budaj, referring to senior Maddy Johnson, “I know it’s hard for {Maddy} to not qualify for the tournament, but we’re absolutely taking steps forward and building for the future.”

Tournament or not, Johnson has embraced her role as a solo senior this season.

“I’ve played with a lot of these girls before, we’ve been playing since we were nine or ten, and they’re a great group of girls. Last year I was a captain, but this year it’s a little different and it’s been nice taking over that leadership role.”

Due to necessity Budaj had to play Johnson, as well as most of her roster, in multiple positions. The veteran coach praised her senior captain for both her leadership and ability to adapt.

“She’s had to split some responsibilities for us. In some games we started her at pitcher and in some games we’ve relied on her in the outfield, especially when we knew we were playing against good hitting teams. She has really nice range and gets a good jump on the ball in the outfield. She kept us in some tight game by making some key catches.”

Johnson was part of the Eagles’ pitching rotation that includes Molly Bowers (who pitched against Newington), Mackenzi Banet, and Kaitlyn Fischer.   

Bowers and Banet are freshmen and Fischer is a junior, giving Budaj plenty of options next spring.

“Molly got a bulk of the pitching this year, but Mackenzi and Kaitlyn got some valuable experience that will definitely help us next year.”

Preparations for 2020 started following an 11-7 loss to Plainville in the season finale last Wednesday at WHS, which also happened to be Senior Night aka ‘Maddy Night’.

“I’m happy that we’re better than we were last year,” said Johnson, “We’ve had such few girls that we’ve had to play different positions but that has helped us mature and helped us throughout the whole season.”

Johnson will be moving on but Budaj has a wealth of experience coming back, including Zoe Kleeblatt, who will be a senior next season and coming off back-to-back seasons of hitting over .500 from the plate.

Budaj sees the potential in this group, now it’s about taking that potential to the next level.

“I look at how they played against Avon and how hard they played against New Britain, and I look at some of those game and say that we can’t lower the bar. We can’t take steps backwards, we have to keep moving forward. It’s important because we’ve seen them play at a high level.”

“I think what is nice is that a lot of those kids play year-round and they’re starting to develop that mentality if you make a mistake, you can shake it off and not make that same mistake again. We’ve seen a lot of growth with the freshman this year and we expect them to come in even better next year.”

As for Newington, they finished the regular season hotter than a firecracker.

Including the win at Wethersfield, the Indians won four games in three nights, ending the regular season on a five-game winning streak.
They defeated Bristol Central (10-2) and Hall (1-0) last Wednesday in a day-night double header before polishing off their regular season schedule with a 4-1 win over New Britain, finishing 14-6 and earning a share of the conference championship.

In the finale, Pantano struck out nine and Gonzalez hit a home run, scoring three runs.  

Markie doesn’t mind the hectic finish heading into the Class LL tourney.

“We don’t have to schedule scrimmages because we’re playing a lot of games and we should be game-ready. We’re seeing live pitches and it puts us in game scenarios. Hopefully we’re peaking at the right time.”

 
The Starting Five: Local Athletes of the Week

Trevor Drescher- Middletown (Track & Field): Drescher finished first in both the Shot Put and Discus at the CCC South Division Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Middletown High School last Tuesday. Teammate Eddie Williams won the 100 Meters at the same event as the Blue Dragons finished second overall as a team.

Sienna Brodeur- Wethersfield (Track & Field): Brodeur finished first in the Pole Vault at the CCC North Division Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Wethersfield High School last Tuesday. Teammate Clarissa Nock finished first in the Javelin and Shot Put, helping the Eagles place second overall at the event.   

Robert Stabert- Newington (Track & Field): Stabert finished first in the Javelin at the CCC North Division Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Freshman teammate Michael Bohlke won the 1600 Meters at the same event, as the Indians placed fourth overall as a team.

Lilah Devine- Rocky Hill (Track & Field): Devine won the 800 Meters at the CCC North Division Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The senior, along with teammates Elizabeth Stockman and Maria Corcoran who finished 1-2 in the 1600 Meters, helped the Terriers finish fourth overall.

Zac Cyr- Cromwell (Lacrosse): Cyr ended his high school lacrosse career with a performance to remember, scoring nine goals in a 14-2 victory over Vinal-Goodwin last Monday at CHS. The senior was instrumental in the Panthers winning their final two games of the season, also pouring in eight goals and dishing out two assists in a 13-3 win over Old Saybrook on May 16.

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