Perfect Bullets down Cosmos

BFA-Fairfax pitcher Kayla Mathieu gave up an RBI triple to Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister in the first inning and very little after as the Bullets defeated Springfield 5-1 in the Division II state championship softball game at Legion Field Saturday.
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Print Email BFA-Fairfax’s Julie Stergas slides safely into second base as Springfield shortstop Brooke Wiley stretches to keep the ball from going into the outfield during Saturday’s Division II championship game in Poultney. Backing up the play for the Cosmos is Corrina Nicholas. Photo: Albert J. Marro / Staff PhotoPublished June 14, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Perfect Bullets down Cosmos BY TOM HALEY STAFF WRITER POULTNEY — BFA-Fairfax pitcher Kayla Mathieu gave up an RBI triple to Springfield’s Chelsea McAllister in the first inning and very little after as the Bullets defeated Springfield 5-1 in the Division II state championship softball game at Legion Field Saturday. “As a pitcher she did not want to give up one more run,” said her catcher Kayla Nester. “We came in here for one goal and one goal only.” The Bullets not only won the title but finished 18-0. McAllister’s booming triple scored leadoff batter Brooke Willey. She had walked and was moved to second when Lina Geyer, the hero of the semifinal game, got down the bunt. Fairfax answered the Cosmos’ run in the top of the first with three in the bottom of the inning. Nester started it all with a hard double to left. The next batter was Kaitlyn Barnack and she drew a walk. Chloe White moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt. Barnack scored on a passed ball and Mathieu and Julia Stergas had consecutive RBI singles to give the Bullets a 3-1 lead. That was all Mathieu needed. She gave up just three hits, struck out six and walked three. “Sometimes it takes Kayla an inning to warm up and lock into the zone,” BFA-Fairfax coach Geri Witalec said. “We definitely had some nerves and the bus legs to shake off.” A state championship is always special and this was title day for the Fairfax school. The baseball team was winning the state title at the same time up at Burlington’s Centennial Field. It all began way back in the fall when the Bullets won the Division III state football championship. “It never gets old,” Witalec said during the postgame ceremony. It is also an extra-special touch for Witalec that the game is played back in Marble Valley League territory where she grew up and played the games herself as an athlete at Black River. “It’s very special,” Witalec said. “My world is very much in Fairfax now, but this will always be my home. It’s great to come back and see the same faces and have some of the same officials doing my game. “And it’s exciting to have my parents here because I know it makes them proud.” Parents John and Sylvia Witalec still live in Ludlow. Stergas drove in a run in the fourth to extend the lead to 4-1. White set the table by walking, taking second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. Back-to-back doubles by Kailyn Hackbart and Nester completed the scoring. There were some outstanding defensive plays including a running catch by Fairfax center fielder Hannah Corrigan to take a base hit and an RBI away from Jade Twombly. The score was 4-1 at the time and the Cosmos had Cassidy Otis on second base following her single and a sacrifice bunt by Corrina Nichols. Twombly pitched well in going the distance for the Cosmos. She surrendered seven hits, struck out five and walked five. The battery of Mathieu and Nester is heading to Plymouth State University. Nester is not only an excellent defensive catcher, but packs a punch at the plate. She had two doubles. Stergas also had two hits for the Bullets. McAllister had her triple and hit the ball hard all three times. She also played a solid third base,. Alyssa Lucius added a double for the Cosmos, the No. 3 seed who finishes at 14-6. It was the fifth state crown for the Fairfax softball program which also won the title in 2013 and 2012. “We did everything we could,” Springfield coach Andy Bladyka said. “We made some mistakes early that hurt us.” There were a couple of errors in that first inning that helped the Bullets put together their three-run frame. It made the day a Franklin County sweep for earlier in the afternoon neighboring Richford won the Division III state championship ovr Leland & Gray. Monday night, BFA-St. Albans will come to Poultney in an attempt to make it a “Franklin County Triple” when the Comets face Mount Anthony. http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=RH&Date=20150614&Category=SPORTS02&ArtNo=706149898&