Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Softball-History

Full Text:

Softball History

Softball history began with Bob Sveda.

The team had its success under legendary coach Ann Anderson, but when Sveda

took over for the 1975 season, the Lady Indians reached new pinnacles - 15

consecutive winning seasons and seven Western Connecticut Conference

championships.

Sveda took over in 1975 and started winning right away, leading the Lady

Indians to a 12-4 record behind the efforts of players like Widget McLaughlin,

Doreen Lange and Marchelle Merrill.

In their third season under Sveda, the Lady Indians handed him the first of

seven WCC titles by finishing 14-5. Laura Liggins, Liz Babasick, Sherri Smith,

Margaret Kean, Donna Shortt, Cindy Merrill, Wendy Wilson, Kathy Madson, Kelly

Botsford, Carrie Rispoli, Tina Solaris, Sue Haberstroh, Carol Hensel, Sue

Morgan and Joyce Pelletier all had some hand in that accomplishment.

And it got better. The Lady Indians finished 17-2 in 1978, 15-1 during the

regular season, and saw themselves ranked second in the state while winning

their second consecutive league championship. What happened during state

tournament? . Babasick, Merrill, Shortt and Debbie Shreders fueled that team.

Not content with just two WCC titles, the Lady Indians went 16-4 in 1979 and

took home their third title. Pitcher Kelly Botsford finished 14-3 for the

season while Diana Michaud led the rest of the team at the plate. Newtown was

also able to claim the title while missing injured first basemen Debbie

Shreders for most of the season.

The Lady Indians fell of their WCC pedestal in 1980 when they lost 7-4 to

Masuk in the WCC championship game. Bostsford was still their while Tracy

Teichert, Laura Gohlinghorst and Babasick helped lead the Lady Indians to a

16-5 overall record.

The WCC went to a Final Four format for the 1981 season and while the Lady

Indians finished 12-7 on the year, they qualified. Kim DeCarlo's pitching

career began that year in fine fashion . . . with a no-hitter. The Lady

Indians got some revenge on Masuk, defeating them 6-2 in the playoffs before

losing, 10-9, to Immaculate in the final.

The Lady Indians returned to championship form for the 1982 season. Sporting a

15-5 record, Newtown defeated Immaculate, 8-2, in the championship game to

reclaim the title and give coach Sveda his fourth championship in seven years.

DeCarlo was 14-3 on the season, helping herself by pitching two no-hitters in

a six-day span. Gohlinghorst and Donna Springmeyer led the team at the plate.

The Lady Indians went 14-5 in 1983, missed a shot at the WCC championship, and

were eliminated from the state tournament by Notre Dame - the second of three

straight times that would happen.

Brookfield was a four-letter word in 1984. The Lady Indians finished the

season 18-3, but two of those losses - both coming within a week - were to the

Lady Bobcats of Brookfield. The second, a 12-6 decision in the WCC title game,

hurt the worst. Springmeyer and Ronnie DeVine were clutch hitters on that

Newtown team, which defeated Sacred Heart and Bethel to reach the semi-finals

of the State tournament, only to lose to Notre Dame, 3-1. DeCarlo finished her

pitching career with 511 strikeouts.

The Lady Indians continued to win games, but not, in 1985, any of the big

ones. Newtown finished 15-6, but were eliminated from the WCC playoffs, 4-2,

by Brookfield, despite the efforts of Alison Borelli, Laura Oberstadt, and Liz

Kenyon. The Lady Indians reached the CIAC Class L semi-finals and lost, 4-3,

to Windham, which scored the winning run in the bottom of the sixth innings.

April Ertl began her softball career in 1986, something of a downer for the

Lady Indians, who finished 11-8 and lost, 8-4, to Brookfield in the WCC

semi-finals.

The Lady Indians did not lost the championship form for long. In 1987, the

girls finished 18-3, winning 17 games in a row right into the CIAC Class L

semi-finals. They defeated Central Catholic, a WCC three-peat champion, for

the league title. Ertl was 11-2 on the season with four one-hitters. Kim

Pelletreau was big at second base while Oberstadt was the best catcher in the

league. The Lady Indians were ranked No. 1 in Class L prior to the tournament.

What happened?

It was the Ertl and Liggins show. April Ertil and Joy Liggins split the

pitching duties in 1988, with Ertl going 9-2 and Liggins going 9-0 to lead the

Lady Indians to an 18-2 record and second consecutive league championship.

Newtown defeated Bethel, 18-5, for the title, avenging their only regular

season loss.

The season to end all seasons. The Lady Indians finished 21-2, defeating

Central Catholic, 13-1, for the WCC championship and reaching the CIAC Class L

state final, where they lost, 13-1, to undefeated Lyman Hall. Ertl also

finished 21-2 on the year, running her personal record to 41-6, adding seven

one-hitters and a two-hitter in the WCC final for her senior year. Heidi

Hilse, Chris Gardner, Kasey keating, and Elena Alonte were the other senior

contributors on that team.

The Lady Indians had their cake and ate it, and then had to succer the stomach

ache for the next few years. They finished 7-10 in 1990, the first year they

did not make the WCC Final Four. In 1991 they were 6-13 and the year after

that - which saw the debut of freshman Alison Bernstein - the Lady Indians

were 6-12. Sveda retired after the 1992 season with a career record of

247-103.

The Bob Zito era began for the 1993 season and he led the team to a 9-10

record. In 1994 and 1995, which the work of Bernstein and Melissa Eigen and

Dee Carroll helping, the Lady Indians finished 15-7 and 13-9, missing the WCC

Final Four both seasons by just a game. Coach Zito boasts a career softball

record of 37-26.