Eye On The CIAC

The calendar is about to flip to May, which means there is just about a month to go in the high school season. Plenty of exciting action as the spring seasons really start to take shape and some compelling results from the past week.

Softball:

Berlin picked up a win on Monday by a 3-1 score over Bristol Eastern to remain unbeaten on the season. Makayla Harris went the distance for Berlin, allowing only three hits and fanning three.
There was history as well on Monday with Platt Tech defeating Goodwin Tech 8-6 to give coach Sue Murphy her 400th career victory.
Brien McMahon snapped a losing skid with a one-run win over New Canaan, which had previously held a top-10 ranking in class LL.
Coventry slugged its way to a victory over Avon to remain unbeaten and remain near the top of the class S rankings. The Patriots knocked in 13 runs to out-last Avon 13-11 to earn the win.
East Hartford closed the week winning the ultimate pitcher’s duel with a 1-0 triumph over Windsor. The win evened East Hartford’s record at 5-5, while after a 5-0 start Windsor dropped its third in four games.

Boys Tennis:

Branford and Notre Dame-West Haven engaged in a tight battle with Branford winning twice in singles and twice in doubles to remain unbeaten with a 4-3 win.
New London earned a strong 4-3 win to improve to 2-4. The victory came over Windham, which has dropped a trio of 4-3 decisions this season.
Jonathan Law halted a rough losing streak, earning its first win since April 4 with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Shelton.
Waterford had its toughest outing of the season on Friday, but managed to remain unbeaten with a 4-3 victory over East Lyme. The win moved them to 8-0 on the season, and six of those eight wins were by 7-0 scores.

Boys Volleyball:

Wethersfield captured a fourth-straight win by going the distance in a 3-2 victory over South Windsor. The win improved Wethersfield to 5-2 after a 1-2 start while South Windsor fell outside the top-10 rankings in class L with the loss.
Conard nearly pulled out its second win of the season but fell in the decisive fifth game to Rockville.

Track & Field:

Troy Gagnon of Newington produced one of four submitted boys qualifying performances in meets on Tuesday (each coming in the 100-meter dash). Gagnon ran 11.4 in the race in a meet against Hall, a time that has him squarely in the middle of the field of qualifiers.
In the girls 100 meters, Amy Stafford of Holy Cross and Chantel Ray of Maloney both ran 12.7 on Tuesday to also safely qualify.
Meghan Dietter of New Milford ran 60.0 in the 400 as well on Tuesday in what ranks as one of the fastest qualifying times in that event. Overall there were 50 qualifying performances turned in on the girls side in meets on Tuesday. Jessica Wojnicki of Immaculate had another one of the qualifying efforts, running 5:07.1 in the 1,600.
Weston’s Emily Savage continued to make history as she vaulted 13′ 1 1/2″ to win the pole vault at the legendary Penn Relays and set a new unofficial state record.
In the boys pole vault Chandler Ives of Simsbury produced the best qualifying mark of the season on Saturday as he cleared 14′ 6″. There are currently 13 competitors qualified in the boys pole vault, and Ives is the lone competitor to have cleared 14 feet.

Girls Lacrosse:

Old Saybrook worked overtime to claim a 14-13 win over North Branford to open the week. Molly Beck scored eight goals for the victors in a hard-fought win over their Shoreline Conference rivals.
The battle between Brookfield and Joel Barlow went the distance and still could not determine a winner as the two teams finished tied at 14.
Cheshire captured a tough one-goal win to earn its sixth-straight victory. The Rams got past past Conard with Kathleen Kalbian powering Cheshire with late goals to break the tie.
Fitch cemented its place at the moment within the top-10 rankings in class M with a busy three-victory week, including the last two wins by a combined three goals. They knocked off St. Bernard on Thursday 14-13, and then added a 14-12 win over Stonington on Saturday to move to 6-2.

Boys Lacrosse:

Simsbury claimed a third-straight win, this time knocking off previously unbeaten Hall with a 10-5 victory. After two straight tough losses, the team has won its last three including the win over the team that was ranked atop the CIAC class L rankings.
Darien and Staples engaged in a spirited defensive battle on Tuesday, with Darien outlasting their opponent by a 5-3 score. Darien has only one loss against Connecticut foes this season, improving to 5-4 overall.
A Wednesday showdown between a pair of highly-ranked FCIAC teams went to Fairfield Prep as the Jesuits earned a one-goal road win over Greenwich by a 7-6 score. Kevin Brown had four goals and one assist to pace Fairfield Prep in the victory.
After three-consecutive losses in mid-April, Branford has reeled off three-straight wins with the latest coming by a lone goal against Shelton over the weekend. Its 5-4 record has the team just outside the top-10 rankings in class M.

Girls Tennis:

Coventry nabbed its second win of the season by outlasting local rival Bolton by a 4-3 score. After dropping its first five matches of the season, Coventry has rebounded to win two of its last three.
Classical Magnet captured a fourth-straight victory (and its second by a 4-3 score) with a win over Capital Prep. The squad is undefeated in the early season, though all four matches have been on its home court.
Masuk has excelled in tight matches this season, and that continued on Wednesday as the Panthers topped Bethel 4-3. The win improved them to 6-3 on the year and four of the six wins have been by 4-3 scores.
South Windsor improved to 5-2 to keep pace in class L with a 4-3 triumph over Bristol Eastern over the weekend.

Baseball:

With a standout pitching performance Windsor Locks handed Canton its first loss of the season with a 1-0 triumph on Monday. The win moved Windsor Locks above .500 on the season.
East Lyme continued a run of success in tight ballgames on Tuesday with a 3-2 win over Waterford. The win improved the squad to 6-4, and three of the wins have been by two runs or fewer.
Bethel is maintaining its pace among the top teams in class L with a 4-2 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield on Wednesday. Matt Liquori improve to 3-0 as Bethel scored one run in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to rally for the win.
Canton bounced back from a tough 1-0 loss to Windsor Locks early in the week by claiming two more tight wins to improve to 7-2. The Warriors nipped Stafford 7-5 in midweek, and then got past Enfield 4-2 on Friday.

RANKINGS WATCH
Each Monday we take a look at any major movement in the top-10 of the CIAC Tournament Rankings for those sports where it is provided (rankings and records are based on results reported through the CIAC on-line reporting system).

The top two teams in class L swapped spots in girls lacrosse, but the other class leaders remained the same. Greenwich at 9-0 is now leading class L, though Glastonbury is still unbeaten in second position. Cheshire slid up from sixth to third in that class with Simsbury also making a move from ninth to fifth. Newtown slid down from second to 10th, leaving room for others to move up. In L, Farmington came from outside the top-10 to claim the third position while Fitch jumped from 10th to fourth. Mercy also was a big riser, climbing to seventh after residing outside the top-10 last week. Wilton slid down to eighth after holding the second spot, but the team’s seven wins are still tied for the second-most in the class. Lewis Mills holds the biggest climb in class S as it debuts at fifth after not holding a top-10 spot. Stonington likewise was not in the top-10 and now sits at eighth. The remaining shifts within the top-10 were one-position moves.
Wolcott in class M holds the top record in the state at 11-0, and is one of three unbeaten teams remaining in baseball. There was little movement in class LL with the South Windsor vaulting from outside the top-10 to seventh and Simsbury dropping from second out of the top-10 coming in as the biggest changes. New London also fell out of the top-10 from the second spot in L, while North Haven is now sixth after not holding a top-10 spot last week and Avon is fifth after also residing below 10th a week ago. Weston in M was another team to come from outside the top-10 and is now fifth while Wolcott and Northwestern are both undefeated at the top. Rocky Hill and St. Joseph are also newcomers to the top-10. Cromwell assumes the top spot in S with an 11-1 mark, while Oxford moves from fourth to second. The bottom half of the top-10 has four new teams from last week.
Four new teams are atop the four class top-10 rankings in softball this week, most markedly in class L where Torrington was seventh last week and is now 13-0 atop the rankings. The remaining moves in class L were minimal with teams just shifting a position or two, though the class still has five unbeaten squads. Seymour made a big move in class M, moving up from ninth to fifth. Suffield assumed the top position after ranking fifth last week. There are also some new faces in the last few spots in the top 10. Four one-loss teams hold the top four spots in class S with Old Saybrook moving from third to first and Oxford jumping from fifth to second. Academy of Holy Family is in the top half of the S standings after being outside those 10 positions last week. Danbury moved up one position to claim the top ranking in LL while Southington slid up three spots from sixth to third. The fifth spot was also good for a new entry in LL with Bristol Central making an appearance. Stamford, South Windsor and Westhill also pop into the top-10.
Not much change at the top of the boys volleyball rankings with the top two teams remaining the same in both classes. The Fairfield Warde/Ludlowe squad made a big move in class L vaulting from 10th to third. Staples jumped up from eighth to fifth in the class and East Hartford makes an appearance at 10th. In class M Enfield and Wethersfield both moved up the rankings with Enfield now in third after previously sitting at fifth, and Wethersfield now at fifth after holding down ninth last week. Rockville also jumped up two positions while New Canaan is new at the 10th spot.
In boys lacrosse Ridgefield in L and Joel Barlow in M moved to the top of their respective classes to start the week, while Brookfield is still at the top of S. Simsbury was a big mover in L, coming from outside the top-10 to fourth. Elsewhere, New Milford climbed to fifth from the eighth spot. East Lyme made a significant move in M, moving to fourth from seventh. Not much shifting outside of that change with teams just sliding one or two spots. Old Lyme reaching the top 10 at seventh was the biggest move in class S, where teams again just shifted a position or two. Morgan jumped into the top half of the rankings with a move from sixth to fourth.
With a host of unbeaten squads still in the fold, there was very little movement in girls tennis rankings with Amity, Ellington and Stonington all sitting atop the L, M and S standings respectively. There are still a total of 13 teams without a loss in the rankings, so nearly half of the 30 teams ranked in the top-10 across the three classes. Six of those reside in class L, while New Britain’s six-game winning streak helped them move from outside the top-10 into 10th position. There are a pair of unbeaten teams in class M with Ellington and Nonnewaug at the top, followed by Guilford’s which has 11 victories to lead all teams. Lauralton Hall has moved up the rankings and is now in fifth in class M. Half of the teams in the top-10 in class S are undefeated and Old Saybrook at sixth actually has the most wins. Valley Regional has pushed itself into the top-10 rankings thanks to a seven-match winning streak.

CIAC On TV
Lots of high school action on CPTV Sports this week, as well as some On-Demand options on the CIAC Network. CPTVSports has a number of games on the schedule including a marathon evening of boys lacrosse on Monday night. There are also softball, girls lacrosse and boys volleyball on the schedule. Among the games are Cheshire and Oxford in boys volleyball, Joel Barlow against Milford in boys lacrosse and a Berlin against Maloney clash in softball. Check out CPTVsports.org for the full schedule, and schedule for games available with the CIAC Network is available on CIAC.tv.