Berardi Pitches No-Hitter In 1-0 Win

One by one the Bunnell (3-2, 1-1) batters came up and one by one Kayla Berardi set them down.  The senior ace for the Brookfield (6-0, 2-0) softball team began the game by striking out the side in the first inning.  She followed that up by doing the same in the second. From there the strikeouts and putouts kept on coming.

"It was good," an excited Berardi said after throwing her first no-hitter of the season in the Lady Bobcats 1-0 win.  "But I have my team to back me up."

While Berardi was mowing down the Lady Bulldogs, the Lady Bobcats were being shutdown themselves.  They had managed only three hits heading into the bottom of the sixth inning with the score tied at zero.  Senior Stephanie Moss stepped up and drilled a leadoff double to right field.

"She was 0-for-2 coming into that at bat and the Bunnell pitcher kind of had her number with the change-up she was throwing," Brookfield head coach Frank Bonacci said of the game-changing at-bat.  "If the wind wasn't blowing in so hard she might have had more then a double."

Ashley Lamparelli was able to move Moss over to third with a groundout, leaving it up to the Lady Bobcats leading run producer Danielle Demarco to drive her in.  Demarco, a freshman, did just that, driving the ball into center field for the game winning sacrifice fly.  The ball was knocked down by the wind making for a close play at the plate.

"She was able to put the bat on the ball," Bonacci said.  "I felt confident sending her (Moss) there.  Their center fielder had the best arm on the team and she wasn't too far deep.  It would have been a close play even if the wind wasn't blowing in.  In the late part of the game we had to try and score, we didn't want her to die at third base."

Once Brookfield took the 1-0 lead it was up to Berardi to finish things off.  She got a scare to start the inning as the lead off batter hit a hotshot right back at her that she was able to glove.

"I just wanted to catch it so I wouldn't get hit in the face," Berardi said of the great play.

She then capped things off with back-to-back strikeouts to end the game, giving her 13 on the day.  She is a perfect 6-0 on the season and has no problem with the coach handing her the ball every day.

"He's been coaching me for four years," she said about Bonacci's trust in her.  "We have a good feeling of when I'm on."

The Lady Bobcats will play at New Milford on Wednesday before returning home Friday for their showdown with also-undefeated Newtown.

"This was a win we needed," Bonacci said.  "It showed the type of character we have.  We only had two hits which is usually not enough to beat good competition."

With Berardi allowing no hits, Brookfield's two were just enough.

"I knew the offense would pick me up," Berardi said of the late rally.  "I knew they would get the big hit."

Download the movie