Black Swan outslugged Reach 13-10 to claim the Newtown Women’s Softball championship, at Treadwell Park, on August 7.

In a back-and-forth game, Black Swan rallied late to pull out the victory. Going into the top of the seventh inning one run down the Swans scored five times, taking the lead on a Melissa Shepard three-run home run. The Swans tacked on two more runs, and a Reach comeback effort fell short. Infielder Katie Schmidt ran down a base runner for the third out.

Rose Jackman and Melissa Fracker both hit two run home runs and Laurie Comerford hit a triple for the Swans.

Black Swan had some outstanding defense in the victory. Ashley Kuligowski converted a double play by stepping on second base and throwing to Julia Truchsess on first. Jess Gibbons made an impressive running catch and threw to Karlie Kuligowski to double up a base runner who didn’t tag up.

Reach put together big hits to keep the game close throughout. Reach scored one run in the bottom of the first inning behind hits by Melissa England and Ali Cordova, and scored two more in the bottom of the second inning with hits by Courtney Kowcheris Rebecca Narel, Kathy Piccini, and Donna Burns.

Reach scored four runs in the bottom of the third inning as England, Stacey Gordon, and Lindsey Carley all had hits. Jody Morris hit a two-run home run, Narel had a double, and Kowcheris added hit in a three-run fourth. Reach scored its last run in the bottom of the seventh with Carley reaching to lead off, Shelby Rotunda delivering  a single, and Jody Morris hitting a double.

Reach’s defense was led by Narel, Gordon, Carley, and England in the outfield; and Cordova, Piccini, and Anne Doersch in the infield. Pitcher Anna Christopher threw an excellent game.

In the playoffs leading into the championship game, Petzercise beat Cork N’ Barrel 10-7 and My Place beat Donate Life 9-3 to advance into the second round. Reach beat Petzercise 4-1 and Black Swan topped My Place 10-4 in the semifinals.

Contributing his for Reach were Kowcheris, Morris, Lynn Bell, and Narel. Rotunda, Piccini, and Gordon played stellar defense. For Petzercise, KC Ciriello, Nancy Neumeister, and Jeanne Carney had great catches in the field and came up with hits at the plate. Liz Kiley played well, and Rachel Maley scored a run and played well at second base in a solid team effort.

In Black Swan’s win, Fracker went 3-for-3 with a home run, and Schmidt went 2-for-2 with a home run. Kayla Mesko made a nice play at the plate. Overall aggressive base running and fielding by the whole team contributed to the win.