Alison Tellier of Bristol Eastern H.S. runs from third base to score a run on a hit into the outfield during fifth-inning softball against Amity H.S. Tuesday, April 21, 2019 Photo: Peter Hvizdak / Hearst Connecticut Media
It was chaos for the state’s Top 10 teams last week.
St. Joseph and North Haven handed Cheshire its first two losses. Bristol Eastern defeated Amity, but then succumbed to unbeaten South Windsor. St. Paul rallied to beat rival Seymour. NFA lost back-to-back games, first to East Haven, then to Southington.
And so there’s been a bit of a shake up in the latest GameTimeCT Top 10 Softball Poll for April 28… but not as much as expected.
Masuk is still No. 1 after three dominant wins over its SWC competition. They’re supposed to play St. Joseph on Saturday.
Softball Notebook / Fine Performances: St. Joseph passes first test
St. Joseph, which beat Cheshire but needed nine innings to survive a game effort by Stamford on Saturday, jumped to No. 2 ahead of town rival and No. 3 Trumbull. Those two play Tuesday.
North Haven parlayed its 1-0 victory over Cheshire into a No. 4 ranking. Southington and West Haven moved in behind the Indians. Cheshire merely dropped to No. 7 despite back-to-back losses.
South Windsor replaces NFA, debuting at No. 8 in the Top 10.
And, finally, Bristol Eastern and Seymour hang onto rankings despite their losses.
Another big week is on tap. The season’s getting interesting.
The GameTimeCT Top 10 Softball Poll: April 28
| TEAM (1st place votes) | REC | PTS | LAST | CLASS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 1. MASUK (12) | 11-0 | 444 | 1 | L | |||
| Latest Results: Def. New Fairfield 12-0, New Milford 18-0, Barlow 17-5. Bottom Line: A monster seventh inning helped push Panthers’ win streak to 38. St. Joseph awaits Saturday (weather permitting, of course). |
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 | 2. ST. JOSEPH (2) | 12-0 | 410 | 3 | L | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Danbury 4-1, Westhill 7-1, Cheshire 3-0, Stamford 5-2 (9 innings). Bottom Line: Cadets narrowly avoided an upset bid by Stamford after statement win over Rams. |
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 | 3. TRUMBULL (1) | 12-0 | 402 | 2 | LL | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Ludlowe 4-0, Bassick 13-0, New Canaan 9-0, Westhill 5-0. Bottom Line: Four straight shutouts last week. The Eagles and St. Joseph are jockeying for the No. 2 spot in the poll. They will face off on Tuesday. |
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 | 4. NORTH HAVEN | 10-0 | 362 | 6 | L | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Cheshire 1-0, Farmington 11-0. Bottom Line: Hard to lose if you don’t give up any runs. Lauren Card is proving it true. |
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 | 5. SOUTHINGTON | 7-1 | 318 | 7 | LL | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Middletown 8-4, NFA 5-3. Bottom Line: Knights beat another Top 10 squad behind strong start. Test against Cheshire waits Tuesday. |
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 | 6. WEST HAVEN | 11-0 | 274 | 9 | LL | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Shelton 11-4, Hamden 13-1. Bottom Line: Westies surge up three spots thanks to chaos elsewhere. Upward movement might not stop with schedule ahead. |
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 | 7. CHESHIRE | 8-2 | 254 | 4 | LL | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Mercy 5-0, Lost to North Haven 1-0, St. Joseph 3-0. Bottom Line: Offense hard to come by against two of the top pitchers in state -- North Haven's Lauren Card and St. Joseph's Payton Doiron. |
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 | 8. SOUTH WINDSOR | 9-0 | 230 | NR | LL | |||
| Latest Result: Def. Windsor 10-2, Bristol Eastern 1-0. Bottom Line: One of just three undefeated teams left in Class LL (Trumbull, West Haven). Bobcats finally jump into Top 10 behind ace Maria Hanchuk. |
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 | 9. BRISTOL EASTERN | 7-1 | 176 | 9 | L | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Amity 4-3, Glastonbury 12-3, lost to South Windsor 1-0. Bottom Line: Lancers drop a pitcher’s duel against South Windsor after rallying to top Amity. |
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 | 10. SEYMOUR | 9-2 | 175 | 8 | M | |||
| Latest Results: Def. Sacred Heart 21-3, Woodland 3-1, Lost to St. Paul 4-3. Bottom Line: Wildcats let late lead slip against NVL rivals and split the regular-season series. These two seem destined to face again. |
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| Dropped Out: Norwich Free Academy (5). First-place votes in parentheses and points tabulated on a 30-28-26-24-22-20-18-16-14-12-11-10-9-8-7 basis. |
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| Others receiving votes: NFA (8-2) 170, St. Paul (9-1) 155 Valley Regional (10-0) 118 Fairfield Warde (7-1) 86 E.O. Smith (7-2) 57 Northwestern (9-0) 53 ND-Fairfield (8-1) 31 Barlow (8-3) 27 Amity (6-3) 24 Windsor (8-1) 23 Woodland (9-1) 15 Stamford (8-3) 14 Montville (9-3) 7. | ||||||||
| The following voted: Scott Ericson, Stamford Advocate; Steve DeMartino, Coginchaug; Vickie Fulkerson, The Day; George DeMaio, WELI; Jimmy Zanor, Norwich Bulletin; Jeff Babineau, St. Joseph; Ryan Lacey, Danbury News Times; Ken Pereiras, Seymour; Mike Madera, Hearst Connecticut Media; Dave Phillips, Hearst Connecticut Media; Bryan Burdick, NFA; Nick DeLizio, North Branford; Richard Zalusky, Willimantic Chronicle; Lori Riley, Hartford Courant, Terry Dinan, New Canaanite. Compiled by Ryan Lacey |
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