BRISTOL - With a divisional title within their grasp, the Watertown High School grabbed the opportunity, taking the NVL’s Iron Division championship with a thrilling 12-11 win at St. Paul Catholic High School on May 1. In winning their fifth consecutive game, coach Keith Borkowski’s Warriors clinched the top spot in the Iron with a 6-2 record; they earned the title by going 3-1 down the stretch, finishing one game ahead of both Torrington and Naugatuck High Schools.
Watertown’s NVL record of 14-4 also earned them the second seed in the league’s post-season tournament, which begins on Saturday, May 20 at WHS Field.
The Warriors ended the regular season with a non-league game at Thomaston High School on May 16.
The Falcons and Warriors combined to pound out 29 hits, 17 of the by the locals, with left fielder Jimayah Brunette, gaining more confidence with each at-bat, leading the hit parade by going 4-for-4 and scoring one run.
Trailing 5-4 in the top of the fifth, the Watertown offense wen to work, scoring eight runs, but they were far from home free, as St. Paul chipped away with two runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth and one inn the seventh, but WHS pitcher Nadia Andarowski held on, striking out 11.
Andarowski and Sophia Angiolini had three hits apiece for WHS; Angiolini drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.
“It’s a thrill to be the best in a competitive division in a very competitive league, and I’m very proud of what the team has accomplished,” said coach Borkowski, who added, “we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us to reach more goals.”
WHS 3 0 0 0 8 1 0 12 17 2
STP 1 4 0 0 2 3 1 11 12 3
WP - Andarowski; LP - Kozlak.
In a key Iron Division game against visiting Wolcott High School on May 11, Nadia Andarowski was staked to an early lead; from there, it was a matter of counting down the outs.
By the time Nadarowski, the Warriors’ pitching ace got to the 21 outs necessary to close the deal, her team was firmly in control by a 6-0 score and were the owners of a four-game winning streak.
Watertown got the quick jump on the Eagles with a three-run first inning which easily could have been much worse from a Wolcott point of view.
Gabby Delaney came up with the big hit in the inning; in the second inning, Watertown added three more runs against Wolcott starter Abby Wrinn and Andarowski took it from there.
Watertown’s junior allowed only two hits; she struck out 12 without allowing a walk; at the plate, she walked twice.
Watertown totaled four hits, one apiece by Delaney, Julia Campbell, Madison Buono and Alexa Conner.
Delaney drove in three runs and Conner one for the Warriors, who improved to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the Iron Division as the final jockeying for seeding in the upcoming NVL tournament went down to the wire.
Prior to the game, the program saluted seniors Madison Buono and Adriana Guerrera.
WP - Andarowski; LP - Wrinn.
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