Raise your hand if you had the Waterbury Career Academy softball team at 8-0 and already qualified for the state tournament.
OK, now put those hands down.
Seriously, who could have seen this first-year varsity team going 8-0 to start the season? Regardless of competition, what WCA has done under John O’Toole is incredible. The Spartans punched their ticket to the Class S state tournament Wednesday with a 17-1 mercy rule win over Med-Ed Prep at Huntingdon Park.
O’Toole had this to say to the Waterbury Republican-American’s Roger Cleaveland afterward:
“I knew stepping in day one that our goal was going to be making
ourselves state tournament-bound with eight wins. I couldn’t imagine it
would be in the first eight games.”
No one saw 8-0 coming, and it’s a great achievement. Vanessa Santiago had a huge day against Med-Ed with 5 RBI, including a three-run home run. Read Roger’s full story here.
WCA owns wins over Crosby and Kennedy so far this season, and it sees another future NVL opponent (and city foe) on Monday when it plays Sacred Heart at 3:30 at Joan Joyce Field (Municipal Stadium).
Holy Cross also 8-0
The defending Class S state champion reached the eight-win plateau with a 17-0 shellacking of Crosby at Crosby High School Wednesday.
Alexandra Lombardo, Valerie Nobrega and Aubry DeFoe continued their hot hitting for Holy Cross. Lombardo had two triples and a double, Nobrega smacked a three-run homer, and Defoe had two doubles. Nicole Strielkauskas pitched four solid inning with nine strikeouts as she continues to gain experience in the circle. Junior standout Sarah Lawton struck out the side in her one inning of work.
The Crusaders continue their week of city games with one against Wilby on Friday.
SIDE NOTE: Holy Cross and WCA are the top two teams in Class S as of this morning.
St. Paul baseball gets to eight
Speaking of top teams in Class S, the No. 1 Falcons punched their postseason ticket with a 6-2 victory at Woodland on Wednesday.
Wes Lahey fired a complete game with 11 strikeouts for St. Paul, which has won three straight games since a humbling 11-5 loss to Seymour. On offense, Chadd Richardson had 4 hits and 2 RBI while Ben Mazzone collected 3 hits and a RBI.
