Log In


Reset Password
Sports

Shepaug Softball Pitcher-Catcher Battery Is A Newtown Connection

Print

Tweet

Text Size


The Washington-based Shepaug Valley High School softball team’s pitcher-catcher battery is an all-Newtown connection with sophomore thrower Cammie Tisi and freshman backstop Brigid Letts powering up the Spartans on the diamond.

These players and their teamwork go back to their U8 days in town. After a few years of playing together they went their separate ways for club softball, including the Connecticut Thunder, and — after four years apart — both ended up back together again by chance when they chose to attend Shepaug, which welcomes students from select nearby towns interested in its Agriscience program.

“It was exciting to be able to play together again,” Tisi said of their reunion on the playing field this spring.

There is a unique connection between pitchers and catchers. After all, players at these positions are constantly working with each other throughout the course of a game. Letts calls the pitches and Tisi generally throws what her battery mate suggests, sometimes shaking off the pitch selection based on gut feel.

Letts gets a sense of what pitches are best for the situation — the count, the approach of the batter, if there are base runners, the score of the game, to name a few plus one. She calls for pitches inside or out off the plate. It is then Tisi’s job to do her best with accuracy; she said her two-seam delivery is her favorite pitch.

"Our team began the season with key positions vacant. Cammie and Brigid impressed me on day one of our practices. Individually, they joined our program as very good athletes, but still young with no experience playing high school softball. Fortunately, the duo have a bond forged in their youth playing softball together," Shepaug Coach Heidi Johnson said. "I think it was nice for each of them to have that familiar face when joining on a brand new team."

In addition to the pitcher-catcher battery charging up the team there is an overall sense of connection as a unit, the girls say.

“It’s just a bond we have — we build off each other,” Letts said of both her behind-the-plate work with Tisi and all of the Shepaug teammates alike.

Shepaug was in Newtown for a nonconference matchup with Newtown High at Treadwell Park on May 1. Newtown won the game 4-3 but Tisi pitched well, limiting an often-potent Nighthawk offense to just seven hits. Following a 7-5 loss to Oxford on May 3 Shepaug stood at 5-8 overall with some impressive wins and hard-fought losses along the way.

"We are just past the halfway mark in a very challenging season against several larger, competitive schools. Cammie and Brigid have been a huge part of our successes. Our win-loss record really isn’t reflective of how good our team is becoming. Cammie gains confidence and stamina with each game. Brigid continues to receive accolades from home plate umpires on her great attitude and determination," Johnson said. "The future of Shepaug softball is bright because of dedicated, hard-working student-athletes like Cammie and Brigid."

Sports Editor Andy Hutchison can be reached at andyh@thebee.com.

Shepaug Valley pitcher Cammie Tisi, of Newtown, delivers to home plate during a visit to Newtown High, at Treadwell Park on May 1. —Bee Photos, Hutchison
Shepaug Valley catcher Brigid Letts is from Newtown.
Comments
Comments are open. Be civil.
0 comments

Leave a Reply