Down one appendix and with only less than two-weeks rest, senior Katie Alfiere led the Woodland Hawks Softball team to their first NVL championship defeating defending NVL champions, the Seymour Wildcats.

Allowing only five hits and striking out five batters, Alfiere had command of the mound and tamed the Wildcats.   Offensively was no different for Alfiere; she brought her bat fully-loaded and ready to play.  An RBI machine, Alfiere slugged two hits–one a fifth-inning, two-run bomb that cleared the centerfield fence 200′ away–and drove in all four runs.  That slam put Woodland up by two for good.  

   At the top of the third inning, Woodland found themselves in a 2-0 hole. But Woodland didn’t give up; left fielder Kara Hames lined a fastball up the middle leading off the inning.  Then Aubrey Roulanaitis joined Hames on base with a walk. With two outs, Alfiere hit a double up the middle to score both Hames and Roulanaitis.  Alfiere’s hit tied the game at 2-2.

  With Woodland up 4-2, Alfiere buckled down to get the last six outs. A ground ball made its way to the pitchers mound, and Alfiere threw it to first to get the final out. The Hawks had just won their first NVL championship. The Hawks celebrated by soaking Coach Luddy with water.

“It’s great to see the players achieve the goal they set at the beginning of the year. A goal that some seniors set four years ago as freshman.  It was especially nice during the tournament that every player had a great hit, play, or scored a run. They played like a championship team,” said Coach Luddy recalling the game.

 The softball team starts states on June 1^st.

Photo credit: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0EAAk6csWco/SY4mhz-fzUI/AAAAAAAACl4/n6ZBaP0byaI/s1600-h/softball.jpg