The St. Paul softball team has a busy week to end its regular season – three games – and it will try to improve on an already impressive 11-6 record.
The Falcons enter the final week knowing their NVL and Class S state tournament berths are secure. They also know that they can compete with some of the top teams out there. The evidence is as follows: wins over Naugatuck, Seymour, Oxford, Holy Cross and Torrington. All of those teams will join the Falcons in the NVL tournament, which begins Saturday with quarterfinal round games.
St. Paul lost, 2-0, at Watertown on April 25 to fall to 5-5 on the season. The Falcons have won six of seven games since then, with the only loss coming against Woodland. That’s no big deal, given the Hawks haven’t lost a game since the 2021 season.
Several players have come up huge in the big wins. Freshman Bella McCulloch had three hits in her first varsity game, a 7-6 win over Naugatuck on April 4. Sophomore Taylor Williams tallied three hits and scored twice in a 7-6 win over Seymour on April 21. When St. Paul won, 6-4, at Oxford on May 6, sophomore Lauren Kozlak had three hits and three RBIs while junior Julia Lawson added three hits.
A day after St. Paul lost a lopsided game to Woodland (McCulloch had a grand slam), the Falcons rallied for an exciting 11-10 home win over Holy Cross. Lauren Kozlak had three hits, including the walk-off double. Junior Kate Marchak blasted a home run and McCulloch doubled.
In the Torrington win, McCulloch and fellow freshman Julia Kozlak tallied three hits apiece while senior captain Lexi Irazabal added two hits.
St. Paul hosts Watertown today at 3:45 p.m. On Tuesday, the Falcons are home against Torrington at 4 p.m. The regular season finale is Thursday at home at 4 p.m. against Northwest Catholic.
