The Best of High School Girls Athletics

The preseason equation was simple. Somers had JoJo Meunier. Nobody else did. Therefore, the Spartans were going to be good.

But how good would depend on other things and other players. The Spartans started to get some answers Wednesday against Coventry.

Meunier was sharp – striking out 14 – but not her sharpest. She allowed only one earned run, but walked four and allowed four hits, which coupled with misplays behind her allowed Coventry to push across four runs.

The game was tied headed into the seventh but key hits by Marisa Forti, Shelby LaDue, Allie Dubanoski and Meunier plated two runs in the inning and gave Somers a 6-4 win that will no doubt be useful when things get tighter come tournament time.

Of special note is the sacrifice bunt put down by Kylen O’Hearn in the top of the seventh that pushed Forti from second to third. The hits that followed made the bunt superfluous but there is no question such execution will be needed in June.

All in all, this was a win the undefeated Spartans (8-0) can take with them.

ON THE DIAMOND

A simple scan of the agate suggests that East Catholic pitcher Allyson Fournier finally got some run support from her teammates this week but even that is misleading. True, East Catholic jumped all over East Hartford in a rematch of a 1-0 loss, scoring six runs while Fournier pitched a shutout, her fourth of the season.

The Eagles followed with a 5-2 win over Glastonbury, but didn’t get the final three runs until the 10th inning. The two runs allowed by Fournier were the first runs she has allowed in a win this season.

Rockville (7-3) made a big move toward a return trip to the state tournament with victories over Bloomfield, Tolland and RHAM-Hebron. Elissa Graf and Emily Berg were key hitters during the week. Graf had a three-run homer that broke open the victory over Tolland and Berg drove in three runs against RHAM. Kaitlyn Lajoie and Courtney Oliva split the pitching duties.

A victory against Rockville could have helped Tolland (5-4), but the Eagles went 2-1 during the week behind the bats of Jess Olson, Allison Whitlock, Alex D’Aloisio and Ashley Clawson.

An interesting week is ahead for East Windsor (4-6), which got a crucial 7-6 victory against Bolton on Wednesday. The Panthers, who continue to rely on Brianna Matteson and Allie Rodrigue, have games with Canton, East Granby and Windsor Locks in the coming week. A 2-1 week would go a long way toward making their goal of reaching the state tournament a reality.

Suffield (10-1) continues to roll. The Wildcats went 3-0 last week behind the arm of Meghan Maliga and the bats of Anna Boucher and Alyssa Wagner.

Ellington has won six straight games.

One team that doesn’t need to worry about reaching the state tournament is Cheney Tech, which has won nine straight since an opening loss to Wilcox Tech as Katie Sirois provides both the pitching and a potent bat.

E.O. Smith improved to 7-3 after a 2-1 week. Josie Borysenicz pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out 10 in a win over RHAM-Hebron. The Panthers have Fermi, Tolland and Newington this week. Michelle Mullen, Katie Leveasseur, Nicole Meunier and Dallas Fonck were instrumental in an important win for Enfield over Fermi but the Raiders (3-6) have a tough road ahead. Six of their next eight games are against Canton, Somers, Ellington or Suffield.

ON THE FIELD

Suffield girls lacrosse team lost its first game this week, a 9-8 setback to Simsbury, but the Wildcats can take heart from the way they rebounded with a 12-11 victory over Avon on Friday. The Wildcats had only been seriously challenged once before this season – a one-goal victory over Haddam-Killingworth – and the experience of playing back-to-back tight games against solid competition will no doubt serve them well in the weeks ahead. The Wildcats continue to attack with Emily Sweeney, Molly Clark, Grace Presnick, Katie Shute, Nicole Gagnon, Brenna Lowe and Ally Pasquariello, among others, and, on a dry field, will be a tough match for anyone.

ON THE COURT

Ellington/Somers sophomore Hannah Riley has lived up to the hype. The No. 1 singles player is undefeated this season. Windsor Locks, which went a full year without a victory in girls’ tennis, didn’t wait that long again. The Raiders earned their second victory of the season Friday with a 7-0 win over Coventry. Cristina Szepanski, Kimberly Love, Carolyn Vo, Julie DellaGuistina all won in singles and the teams of Amy Wetzel/Charlotte Zocco, Jenn Rivera/Diane Vo and Ali Martinez/Tianna Duquette won in doubles.

ON THE TRACK

The Windsor girls’ track team is rounding into form. Sydnee Over was first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.60 at the Irv Black Meet in New Britain last weekend. Over also led the Warriors to a win in the 4x400 relay along with Ashley Graves, Brianna Allen and Nastasya Rodrigues. Chalsea Clark, Janae Wilson, Courtney Kearse and Allen won the 4x100 relay at the meet.