Rachele Fico apparently has met her nemesis.
The Masuk pitcher, who sports an astronomically low 0.04 earned run average, has problems when Stacy Pouliot is in the park.
The Fitch catcher stroked a home run in a 1-0 Fitch win a year ago and Pouliot struck again this afternoon. She smoked a Fico pitch to center field for a solo home run off the Masuk junior, but Fitch still trails 2-1 after three innings of the Class LL semifinals at DeLuca Field in Stratford.
The Panthers (25-0) scored two runs in the top of the first on a Fitch infield error and a double by Fico. A ground out by Chaise Courbron scored the second Masuk run.
The winner today plays in the Class LL state championship game this weekend.

Just in time for Pat Lowery.
The St. Bernard ace relieved Harrison Smith in the top of the fourth with Cromwell up 1-0 and his teammates gave him the lead in the bottom of the inning.
A two-out double by Smith and consecutive singles by Jeff Nossek and Bryan Hall has given St. Bernard and Lowery a 2-1 lead through four innings of a Class S quarterfinal baseball game at ECSU.
Cromwell had taken the lead with a run off Smith in the third on an RBI double by Nick Melino.
St. Bernard is the last ECC team with a chance to advance. Montville, Fitch, and Waterford all lost earlier on Sunday afternoon.

The St. Bernard Saints are the last of the Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball teams left playing in the state tournament on this Sunday.
Earlier today, Montville, Waterford and Fitch all saw the baseball season come to a close with losses in quarterfinal games across the state.
The Saints, ranked 10th in Class S, are locked in a scoreless duel with the Cromwell Panthers thus far this evening at ECSU.
Harrison Smith started for St. Bernard and has allowed two hits in the first two innings, but 15th-seeded Cromwell has been unable to score.
Cromwell ace Nick Melino started for the Panthers and has allowed just one walk through the first two innings.

Last year was pretty tranquil on the football coaching front.
So much for tranquility.
Yesterday's announcement that Mark Ambruso will likely only coach one more year at Norwich Free Academy continues the coaching carousel that began when Ledyard's Bill Mignault decided to retire a couple of months ago.
Since then, Jim Buonocore has moved over from Fitch to Ledyard, leaving the Fitch job open. St. Bernard coach Marc Romano is rumored to be in the running for that position which would leave the Saints' job vacant if that becomes the case.
When Ambruso departs, it's likely Jemal Davis takes over. Davis is now the former coach at Woodstock after he resigned last Friday for "potential future possibilities" elsewhere (i.e. NFA).
That leaves Woodstock and Fitch open for now and one or two others could join that list.
Why?
Everybody knew Mignault's retirement may set off a chain reaction as it did with Buonocore moving over.
Ambruso will move up into the administration at Bacon Academy meaning he will no longer be able to coach. Davis, who started the Woodstock program, was just looking for a more-established program to be a part of.
As the saying goes, stay tuned.

Call it swagger and it's not a bad thing to have.
The Lyman Bulldogs girls softball team come in with the attitude that they're going to win, every time they step on the field, and coach Gary Hoyt is happy to see it.
"The senior class think their freshman year was not a successful one and yet, we went from 3-17 to 9-12," Hoyt said. "Their attitude was we were only 9-12. We started 17-0 the next year and I told them we weren't going to win them all and they were like 'Why not?'."They've been that way and it's a good thing. They walk on the field expecting to win."
Such as the Bulldogs did on Wednesday as they pounded out 14 hits in a 10-1 win over St. Bernard. Chrissy Bourgoin and Holly Shinkle both homered in the game for the Bulldogs who improved to 8-0 on the season.

Matt Smith said he spoke to his high school vice-principal l shortly after noon time and was amazed to find out that the golf match between his Tourtellotte Tigers and the Putnam Clippers was still on.
Indeed it was.
On a day that was not suited for the sport, the top two ECC Small Division teams met at Putnam Country Club and it was to be the home team's day. Putnam, thanks to a 36 by Andrew Senecal and a 38 by Josh Rice, easily knocked off their neighbors to the north.
Interesting side to this match, though, the transformation that Putnam Country Club is going through. The course only has nine holes open as its entire back nine is undergoing a facelift with new tees and a lot less trees than those familiar with the course will remember.
On Tuesday, of course, that facelift also meant a lot more mud on the side of the fairways especially along the first hole.

If there's one thing you should bring with you when you go to a game down in Southeast Connecticut this time of year- it's a jacket.
The sun was shining brightly on Monday afternoon down in Groton, but it did little to account for the chill coming off the water.
That left those who were sitting in the bleachers and chairs along the sidelines at Sutton Park in Groton huddled under blankets and heavy jackets to watch the Fitch Falcons blank the NFA Wildcats 2-0 in an early season ECC Large Division matchup.
The win for the Falcons should come as no surprise, many had them picked as the team to beat in the ECC. The Falcons have one of the best and most experienced pitchers, Kristina Torres, in the circle. They also have a tough lineup headed by Brittany Duclos and Arielle Cooper.
Fitch also had a secret weapon on Monday.
Brianna Turgeon may only be a freshman, but as coach Jon Grossman pointed out, she has a good pedigree for the sport. Turgeon, batting third for Fitch, delivered the game-winning two-run triple in the fifth inninng for the Falcons.