Coginchaug Upends Madison for District 9 Softball Title

By Scott Strang

Skye Ryer threw her 4th complete game victory, and Coginchaug batters wore out Madison pitching, as they captured the 9-10 year-old District 9 Little League Softball title with a 15-5 mercy-rule win in 5 innings Monday night at Snow School in Middletown.

Ryer went 4-0 in the tournament, allowing just 12 runs in 23 innings pitched. Coginchaug finished 5-1 overall, with pool play wins over Madison, Guilford and Essex, and an 8-4 semifinal win over the Cromwell/Portland team this past Friday. This is the first 10 year District 9 softball title for Coginchaug since 2001, and their 3rd overall.

Despite a pair of strikeouts by Ryer, Madison got the first run on a delayed steal of home in the 1st inning to take a short lived 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Amalia DeMartino walked, and 9 batters and two Madison pitchers later, she hit an RBI single in a 7 run first inning for Coginchaug. 

In the top of the 2nd, Madison loaded the bases with no one out, but got just 2 runs out of it to cut the lead to 7-3. In the bottom of the inning, Kerry Turecek hit a 2 strike double down the right field line, and scored on a stolen base and overthrow to make it 8-3. Madison would not score in the 3rd, and Carina Mancini speared a 2-out line drive at shortstop to complete a 1-2-3 inning for Ryer in the 4th.

Turecek had another base hit to lead off the 4th, and would score on a wild pitch. Two batters later Mancini had an RBI single to plate Izzy Milardo and take a 10-3 lead.

Ryer struggled with control in the top of the 5th, and two leadoff singles came around to score on a combination of errors and wild pitches to cut the lead to 10-5. Mancini again came up big in the field, as she gunned out the next batter from shortstop for the first out, and Ryer recovered with a pair of strikeouts to limit the damage.

In the bottom of the 5th, Coginchaug got singles from Ryer, DeMartino, Turecek and Milardo. DeMartino was thrown out at home on the hit by Turecek, but with 2 outs, they had built the lead to 13-5. Natalie Turner walked, and a Mancini double made it 14-5. Mancini stole 3rd base, and the game ended on a wild pitch, as Mancini sprinted across home plate, representing the run that would complete the 10-run margin mercy-rule win.

Coginchaug now moves to the State Section 2 tournament, which starts Wednesday, July 17 at Veterans Memorial Field in Niantic. They will face the District 8 winner in the opening game of the double-elimination tournament.