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The 2022 CIAC Class L softball champion Masuk High Panthers
David G. Whitham / For Hearst Connecticut Media
STRATFORD — On opening day, the Masuk softball team entered the season as the preseason No. 1. Every returning member of the roster had one thing in common, they had won a state championship in every season of their high school careers.
The Panthers ended up losing that first game of the season, but on Saturday Masuk finished on a 26-game winning streak, claiming its fourth straight Class L championship 4-0 over Waterford at DeLuca Field.
“I think this year it feels really good because we had that opening loss against Ludlowe,” Masuk coach Leigh Barone said. “To just come back and win every game after that with a difficult schedule, playing Southington and St. Joes, that makes it that much better.”
Gatorade Player of the Year Kat Gallant threw a complete game shutout, striking out eight batters while allowing just four hits and two walks.
“I think that this shows how far we have come,” Gallant said. “Everybody took that opening day loss personally and worked extra hard day in and day out after that. This is a good reward for all that work.”
Masuk wasted no time taking an early lead when sophomore centerfielder Natalie Lieto hit a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning.
“I know (Waterford pitcher) Maddie (Burrows) throws a screwball and she throws up,” Lieto said. “I wasn’t going to chase anything, but if I got something I wasn’t going to waste it. I saw that 3-2 pitch and I swung at it.”
The one run would prove to be plenty for Gallant, who has now thrown shutouts in consecutive Class L title games.
“It never gets old,” said Gallant, who also threw her second shutout of the tournament. “And it being my senior year makes it special, especially since it is one of my co-senior’s birthdays today.”
Left Fielder Sarah Falcone is one of the three Masuk seniors, and on her birthday she was able to drive in Masuk’s second run of the game on a second inning RBI groundout.
⬇️1: Masuk’s Natalie Lieto gives Masuk an early lead with a lead-off HR #ctsb
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 11, 2022
Masuk 1, Waterford 0 pic.twitter.com/rn5rIEOSce
Gallant would do the rest of the damage herself in the fifth, dropping a bloop single over the Waterford third basemen’s head with the bases loaded to drive in two for a 4-0 lead.
“It has been such a pleasure to coach all three seniors,” Barone said. “Kat has been great for us on the mound, and it is crazy to think she has done everything she has in only two years. Sarah Falcone has grown so much as a fielder and a hitter and Emma West-Testo is one of the biggest team players, and she has come in clutch for us in a lot of games.”
While Masuk will graduate three key senior starters, the rest of the roster will return, and they certainly know how to win.
⬇️5: Gallant drives in two with a bloop single #ctsb
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 11, 2022
Masuk 4, Waterford 0 pic.twitter.com/x7MjDPT6cu
“We have a young team which makes it that much better,” Barone said. “We have the three seniors but the rest of them are coming back, and our roster has a lot of freshmen and sophomores.”
Waterford (22-5) made a strong run through the Class L tournament as the No. 7 seed but fell short against the buzzsaw that was the Panthers.
“Anytime you make it to a state championship you had a successful season,” Walker said. “You always hope the outcome is going to be the way you want it to be, with a ‘W’. But they have a great team and a great program. We expected a battle and they capitalized on some mistakes. You have to score to win, and we didn’t score, it is what it is.”
⬆️1: Gallant walks Burrows to lead off the game but gets the next three Waterford batters #ctsb
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 11, 2022
Waterford 0, Masuk 0 pic.twitter.com/O6qyZgpnyy
All-State pitcher and shortstop Maddie Burrows got the loss on the mound, but with one state title under her belt and many more accolades, she and her senior class left their mark on the program.
“My senior class is phenomenal,” Walker said. “They have given so much to the program the last four years and I am very sad to see them leave. They are leaving the program in great shape and have put us back in the Top 10 the last few years with their effort and their love of the game. I am going to miss them terribly.”
While Gallant and Burrows appeared on opposite sides of the field today but a year from now the two MVP candidates will be donning the same Villanova uniform.
“I am excited for it,” Gallant said. “I would rather have her in my lineup than against me.”
Will.Aldam@hearstmediact.com; @AldamWill