May 3, 2013 - Southingtonlibrary.org

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The Step Saver/ The Observer
Friday, May 3, 2013
Our Athletes
Postseason bound
Knights qualify for state tournament
By JOHN GORALSKI
SPORTS WRITER
It’s official. The boys lacrosse
team is back in the postseason.
This week the Knights
rebounded from an uncharacteristic
loss in New Milford with a pair of
hard-fought wins. At 8-3,
Southington has clinched a postseason
berth, but Coach Ron Chase
brushed the accomplishment aside
to focus on the team’s next challenge.
Boys Lacrosse
“We’ve still got a good stretch
ahead of us,” said the coach. “It’s
one thing to win seven games, but
we’ve got Hall, Simsbury, Conard,
and South Windsor coming right in
a row. We have to get through those
guys before we even start to think
about the playoffs. We’ve got
Windsor on Tuesday, and that's all I
want them to think about.”
Chase knows that things can
change quickly, and he pointed to a
13-4 loss to New Milford that started
“
We’ve got Windsor
on Tuesday,
and that’s all we’re
playing for right now.
I’m not expecting
anything.
I just want to win
the next game.
“
Ron Chase,
SHS boys lacrosse coach
the week. Southington trailed by
just three goals at the half, but New
Milford used an 8-1 rally in the third
April 22
New Milford 13
Southington 4
April 24
Southington 12
Rocky Hill 3
April 26
Southington 9
NFA 3
quarter to put the game out of
reach.
Kevin Cop, Will Thompson,
Jared Florian, and Cody Morrissey
scored goals. Brian Mahon rallied
for nine saves, but it wasn’t enough
as seven New Milford players
picked apart the Knights.
“They are an excellent team,
but we didn’t play particularly well,”
said Chase. “When you do that
against a good team, you’re not
going to win.”
That’s why Chase is tempered
•Volleyball, Girls Tennis, Track...pages 34-35
•SHS Softball Team...page 37
•Girls Lacrosse, Boys Tennis...page 38
•SHS Golf - Jim DiNello’s 125th Win...page 39
about his team’s eighth win. The
toughest challenges are ahead of
them as Southington looks to build
momentum for the postseason.
Chase said that he was pleased
with the way his team responded to
JOHN GORALSKI
Steven Hamel leads a Southington’s possession during a
recent home game.
the loss. On Wednesday, the Knights
dominated Rocky Hill as they built a
6-2 lead at the break on their way to
a 12-3 victory. Cop paced the attack
See LACROSSE, page 34
JOHN GORALSKI
Baseball clinches berth
Blue Knights are still looking for consistency
By JOHN GORALSKI
SPORTS WRITER
The previous week culminated
in a 20-run performance,
but Southington couldn’t
buy a run at the start of last
week. The Blue Knight baseball
team rebounded from a
tight loss riddled with errors
with a pair of opportunistic
shutouts.
Baseball
At 8-2, the Knights have
continued a streak of postseason
appearances that
stretches well into the last
At left, Andrew Goralski
throws a strike
during an 8-0 win over
Hall to clinch a postseason
berth.
April 22
NW Catholic 2
Southington 1
millennium, but Coach
Charlie Lembo is still waiting
for this year’s Knights to find
their rhythm.
“It’s high school baseball,
so consistency’s the
issue,” said the coach. “Right
now, the only place we’ve
been consistent is on the
mound. We’re not having the
most consistent approaches
at the plate, and I think we
need to get better at that if we
want to reach some of our
other goals.”
This week highlighted
Southington’s inconsistencies.
The only thing that’s
been dependable so far has
been the pitching.
April 24
Southington 4
Farmington 0
April 26
Southington 8
Hall 0
On Monday, Joe Rivera
scattered two hits over six
innings, but NW Catholic
capitalized on three
Southington errors to manufacture
a 2-1 win. One game
after scoring 20 runs,
Southington’s bats went cold.
“We were hitting the ball
hard but right at people, and
we made three errors which
gave them both their runs,”
said Lembo. “Joe Rivera
pitched a great game. Their
leadoff hitter got a clean base
hit, and their only other hit
was a wind-blown single
between our infield and our
outfield. He deserved a better
fate than he got. We left runners
in scoring position in all
seven innings. We had a guy
thrown out at the plate. We
doubled off on a line drive. It
was just one of those days.”
Ted Shaw and Brett Susi
both went 2-for-3 with a double,
and Brett Shaw scored
Southington’s only other hit
with a double in the third
inning. Matt Sirois drove in
Ted Shaw in the top of the
fifth inning, but the uncharacteristic
lapses on defense
led to Southington’s first conference
loss.
Two days later,
Southington rebounded in
See BASEBALL, page 32
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