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Working on tourney
There is one goal left to achieve for the Woodstock Academy softball program. Make the state tournament.
The Centaurs came into the week with four games left to play against Fitch, Hale Ray and Montville this week and Haddam-Killingworth in their final home game next Monday.
They need one more win to qualify for the Class L tournament.
“You start pressing,” Woodstock Academy coach Jason Gerum admitted.
But there are winnable games left. Gerum thinks the Centaurs (7-9) have a good chance against Haddam-Killingworth and Hale Ray.
“There are teams on our schedule still left that when you look at common opponents and the level of play we’re at and what they’ve done against them and you consider all the factors, we still have a good chance of winning some games,” Gerum said.
But there is a caveat to that. “Every team left on our schedule, the programs are good. So we could go 4-0 as easy as we could go 0-4. That’s the pressing part. To get it over with, and not have to feel pressure in the last few games, is huge,” Gerum said.
The Centaurs could have erased the question May 11 but fell just short to Valley Regional, 6-4.
The Warriors have a very good pitcher in Addy Bullis; a key reason why they are now undefeated through their first 15 games.
Bullis held the Centaurs spellbound through the first three innings, not allowing a hit, while her teammates spotted her a 3-0 lead. But Woodstock Academy reached the Valley pitcher in the bottom of the fourth.
Catcher Julliana Nuttall had the first hit of the game for the Centaurs, a single, and Ashley Kaseck was sent in as a courtesy runner.
After a line out, Heather Converse walked.
Mackenzie Leveille put the Centaurs on the board with a single to center. Megan Preston then tied the game with a line drive, two-run double to center field.
But the Warriors got their three-run lead back in the sixth on a pair of doubles and a triple.
The Centaurs got back within two in the bottom of the inning when Nuttall walked, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a Converse ground out.
Leveille doubled with two outs, but was stranded when Bullis recorded one of her 12 strikeouts.
She set Woodstock Academy down in order in the seventh.
The Centaurs started out the week with one of their better offensive performances of the season when they posted an 18-4 win over Bacon Academy.
Hannah Burgess, who did not play in the Valley Regional game due to graduation exercises for her brother, led off the game in Colchester with a double. Nuttall walked and Hannah Chubbuck reached on an error.
Converse singled home two runs, Preston followed with an RBI single and Converse, on a double steal, stole home to make it 4-0.
But the Bobcats tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
“There was a tight (strike) zone in that game. It was odd. Megan likes to throw inside. She’s not afraid to go in there and we’ve capitalized on that because she jams a lot of players, doesn’t allow them to extend, but we weren’t getting any strikes called inside,” Gerum said.
Preston gave up two walks early, tried to adjust to the strike zone and yielded four straight hits including a double and a triple.
“We came in and regrouped, talked about changing how we were going to throw and we did it. Megan did a great job and we didn’t give up another run, but we pitched a totally different game from innings two through seven,” Gerum said.
But her teammates had her back.
Burgess singled home Maria Scandalito and scored on a wild pitch. Converse had a sacrifice fly and Leveille added an RBI single to make it 8-4 in the top of the second.
Woodstock Academy added another run in the third and three more in the fourth and the one-sided win was in motion.
Burgess led the way with five hits in six trips and is back up to a .667 average this season. Leveille finished with a 4-for-4, two RBI day while Converse had a pair of hits, scored three times and drove in five runs.
Preston also helped herself with two hits and two RBIs.
The Centaurs started well against East Lyme but fell to 0-5 in Division I of the ECC with a 7-1 loss May 8.
Woodstock Academy got on the board first when both Leveille and Preston reached on errors and Leveille scored on a Maia Corrado ground out to make it 1-0 in the second inning.
Then along came the bottom of the third inning.
The Vikings strung together six straight hits to start the inning including a two-run double by Anna Bomelli.
After a line out and a sacrifice fly, E. Lyme got two more singles and finished with six runs. The Vikings added another run late to put the win away. Converse was the only player with two hits for the Centaurs while Burgess, Leveille and Scandalito had the others.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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