Rare Rminder Hs Spring Tournament News & Notes

Baseball
Newington entered the Class LL tourney as the #10 seed and won a pair of games. In the first round they defeated #23 New Milford 3-2 behind a solid pitching performance from Zack Nakonechy. Austyn Howe was 2-2, scoring two runs, and Alex Cappellucci went 2-3 for an RBI. In round two, the team traveled to Trumbull and won 8-6 thanks to Shaun Callahan, who went 2-3 and drove in two runs. The Nor’easters season came to an end with a hard-fought 12-10 loss to McMahon in the quarterfinals.
   
Cromwell defeated SMSA in the opening round of the Class S tourney behind another fabulous pitching performance from junior Zachary Zajac, who tossed a no-hitter. The #8 Panthers fell to Shepaug in the second round, ending a season where the team won 15 of 21 games.   

Rocky Hill destroyed University/Classical, 27-1, in the first round of the Class M tourney. The Terriers racked up 29 hits, three apiece from Tyler Carlstrom, Brendan Whalen, and Jeffrey Beliveau. Carlstrom scored four runs, while Whalen, Nick Aderhold, and Braeden Murawski each scored three. Senior Zach Mascaro added four RBIs. In round two the #20 seed Terriers took #4 seed Waterford to the limit, playing to a 2-2 tie through five innings, before losing 7-2.    

Softball
Rocky Hill blanked Platt Tech, 20-0, in the Class M first round behind a no-hitter from Shauna Kehoe, who struck out 14. Christina DeNovellis was great from the plate, connecting on four hits, driving in four runs, and scoring four more. Maddie Dillon added three runs and Erin Slavin drove in three. The #19 Terriers nearly upset #3 Granby in the second round, losing 1-0, as Granby pitcher Abigail Kidd limited Rocky Hill to three hits and struck out 18. 

Cromwell earned a bye in the opening round before knocking off Old Lyme, 4-3, in the second round of the Class S tourney. Freshman Victoria Wiatrak drove in two runs, including the game-winner in the bottom of the 7th when she sent home Jaime Anderson, who scored her second run of the day. The Panthers fell Norte Dame-Fairfield in the quarterfinals, ending the season and the high schools careers of twins Monica and Erica Dewey, who were the team’s only two seniors. Monica Dewey posted this after the tourney loss, “Cromwell softball has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Through Little League, middle school and high school, the people surrounding me have been like family and they’ll remain that way forever. I have no regrets because I have put my heart and soul into this game and held nothing back. For my teammates and for the blessing to play, I will always be thankful.”  

Girls Lacrosse
Rocky Hill defeated Old Lyme 6-1 in a Class S qualifying round game behind Isabella Santos, who had two goals and an assist. Emma O'Connell added two more goals, while Molly Morgan and Sarah Whelan each scored. Goalkeeper Gracie Manushi had seven saves and the Terriers defense led by Maddy Gurrera, Hannah Fuller, Beverly Mastorianni, and Katie O'Connell helped cement the victory.
 
Boys Lacrosse
Newington defeated Branford-East Haven 7-6 in the qualifying round of Class L before falling to Hall in the first round, ending a solid season for Newington, who won 11 of 15 regular season games. In the regular season, Mike Zapatka led the team with 68 points (51 goals) and Trevor Reilly added 43 points, including a team-high 22 assists. Sam Davies manned the goal for a majority of the season.

Wethersfield wrapped up their first varsity season with a 14-1 regular season record, good for the second-best record in Class M. The Eagles lost an 11-10 overtime heartbreaker to Brookfield in the first round of the tourney, despite four goals from senior Ethan Rocheleau and three more from sophomore Wil Bankowski.