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FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield Little League Girls Softball program won its second Section 1 championship Monday when its Junior League team, for girls 14-and-under, defeated Greenwich 8-3 in Bristol.
Fairfield will play for the state championship in a best-of-three series beginning Saturday in West Haven. The state Junior League champion advances to the East Regional, which will also be played in West Haven.
Sam Platz struck out 15 and pitched a two-hitter for Fairfield, which scored seven runs in the first two innings and coasted to victory.
“I think it was for our team to have a little tighter game,” Fairfield manager Casey Elliot said. “I was happy to see a closer score.”
Fairfield outscored opponents 47-5 in its three sectional games, including a 17-0 win over Greenwich earlier in the tournament. Fairfield had chances to pad its lead Monday, but left the bases loaded twice. With Platz mowing down the Greenwich lineup, however, Fairfield didn’t need many runs. “Sam has been doing that the whole tournament,’’ Elliot said.
Alice Nelson had three hits and three RBIs for Fairfield, with a single, double and triple. Her two-run double helped spark a five-run second inning. Platz had two hits and two RBIs, and Gabby Natoli reached base three times and scored two runs.
Many of the Fairfield players were on the Little League team that won the New England Region championship last summer.
“We assume we’ll play Mystic and we know they’re a good team,’’ Elliot said. “We’re still a very young team with a lot of girls that just finished the eighth grade. We’ll see how far we can go.”
Fairfield's Section 1 championship team includes Natoli, Madison Burress, Nelson, Platz, Erin Rosengren, Julia Wilson, Dana Hyde, Eliza Elliot, Molly Hamilton, Alex Scholl and practice players Valerie Jarret, Anna Carriero and Megan Holden. Elliot is the manager assisted by John Spooner and Ron Nelson.
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