New Canaan Softball Shocks Darien, Solidifies Position in FCIAC

What a difference a day makes. 24 hours after Tuesday’s potentially devastating 7-5 loss to a sub-.500 Trinity Catholic squad, the New Canaan Rams softball team came back and stunned the FCIAC world Wednesday afternoon at Waveny’s Orchard Field with a dramatic 2-1 upset win over #2 ranked Darien. “That’s softball,” New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau told NewCanaanite.com. “That’s why it’s so frustrating when you make careless mistakes because you know you’re better at the game than what we showed. But they came back today and proved we are better than what we showed.”

The game featured two of the best pitchers in the FCIAC and more than lived up to its billing.

2 Days, 3 Wins for New Canaan Softball

Playing three games and 25 innings over two days had New Canaan’s head coach Danielle Simoneau feeling like she was in the summer tournament circuit as opposed to FCIAC play. Scheduling conflicts and rainouts made the logjam a somewhat unwelcome necessity. That said, when all was said and done, all that mattered to Simoneau were the three games the Rams added to the win column. After an 11-inning 4-3 marathon win over Danbury on Friday, the Rams swept a doubleheader on Saturday–beating Norwalk 15-9, and McMahon 4-3. “It feels great anytime you win,” Simoneau told NewCanaanite.com.

New Canaan Softball’s 10-and-Under Division Opens at Waveny

Mary Mellas drove up from New Jersey to watch her granddaughter, West School fourth-grader Lauren Mellas, pitch on Opening Night for the AAA division of New Canaan Softball on Thursday. “She’s doing really great,” Mellas said from a grandstand at Waveny’s orchard field on a sunny, windy evening as the Glory team took on the Racers. “She’s a special little girl. It’s really fun to see them evolve. I saw her pitch last year and she’s starting off strong today.”

Dozens of parents joined her for a special start to the season, with a DJ playing dance music between innings, the Super Duper Weenie truck giving away food and some members of defending FCIAC champion New Canaan High School softball team helping the youngsters learn the game.

New Canaan Softball Wallops Wilton for First Win of 2014

Freshman Molly Keshin hit her second home run of the season and drove in three runs to lead the New Canaan Rams softball team to an 11-4 drubbing of Wilton High School. New Canaan also received a solid pitching performance from junior Jamie Schlim, who settled down after a shaky first inning to shut down the Warriors. Schlim struck out 9 batters while giving up 4 hits and 4 walks to earn the complete game victory for the visiting Rams.

The win was the first of the season for the defending FCIAC champs, who came into this afternoon’s action having dropped their first 3 games of the season. “I’m very proud of how they stayed focused the entire game,” New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau said. “They adjusted at the plate when they needed to and made all the plays they needed to.”

New Canaan jumped out to a quick start.

Despite Dropping First Two Games, Plenty of Bright Spots for New Canaan Rams Softball

Over the first two games of the 2014 season, the New Canaan Rams softball team saw some great pitching, solid hitting and adept fielding. The only issue was…they couldn’t put it all together in one game. On Thursday the Rams lost the season opener at Fairfield Ludlowe 1-0, as they could only muster 4 hits for hard-luck starter Ali Reilly. And in the home opener the following afternoon, the Rams dropped a 9-5 decision to Greenwich in a game that saw its fair share of hits–including a home run by freshman Molly Keshin–but also its fair share of errors. “You expect things like this,” Rams head coach Danielle Simoneau said following the Greenwich game.