By Tim Parry
Boy, did I miss out on a good thing Sunday. The chance to see Rachele Fico make her debut as a member of the 27-time ASA champion Stratford Brakettes. The recently-crowned Connecticut Post Athlete of the Year was brilliant against the Xtreme Chaos, striking out 16 batters in the back end of a double header.

So in case there were any doubters out there, hoping her Brakettes performance would expose some sort of weakness, something that would make her look like a 17-year-old-girl and not a stellar athlete who gave a verbal commitment to LSU as a Masuk High School junior…

Guess what? Rachele Fico is the real deal.

Fico compiled a perfect 27-0 record for Masuk, which won its second straight CIAC Class LL championship with a 1-0 victory over Naugatuck at DeLuca Field on June 8. She threw 12 no-hitters, seven perfect games, and struck out 486 batters in 195 innings. She allowed only 21 hits and walked just seven batters and she had a 0.07 ERA.

And you can’t blame that on poor hitting in the CIAC. Not when you’re a one-person wrecking crew, and then proved it again on a higher stage.

Now the Brakettes could use some fans in the seats, and hopefully the presence of Fico will get some out there. Why not? Local girl makes good. Everyone loves a success story.

Here’s to hoping she gets to put in some work - even if just for one inning - against Team USA this July 20.

It’s been a busy weekend for the CIAC, with state champions to crown in a ton of sports.

And after a cool spring weather-wise, mother nature went crazy yesterday, blistering athletes with temperatures in the 90s. Which meant in-season conditioning became a major factor for all the athletes involved.

Here’s a quick roundup of winners, losers (though to be politically correct, they are runners-up), and more, including clips from the local sports media…

FRIDAY:
Westhill wins Class LL Baseball Title
I slammed Westhill pitched T.J. Hickey’s mound antics in a post a few weeks ago. He’s recovered nicely and, on the mound, became the go-to guy a lot of us saw during the football season. As he kept Masuk batters in check, Bobby Migliazza and Greg Smith led the offense in a 12-1 win up at Palmer Field in Middletown.

The clips: Stamford Advocate game story; Stamford Advocate sidebar; Connecticut Post.

Also Friday: Darien takes volleyball title; Staples wins again in Class L.

SATURDAY
The links:

• Masuk phenom Rachele Fico shuts down Naugatuck: Connecticut Post; New Haven Register.
• Law upsets Ludlowe for Class L baseball title: New Haven Register; Connecticut Post.
• Danbury takes Division II girls lacrosse championship: News-Times; News-Times sidebar.
• Prefect ending for New Fairfield lacrosse team: News-Times.
• Prep tops Ridgefield in 3OT to take Class L lacrosse title: Connecticut Post.
• Darien girls defeat Wilton again for girls lacrosse championship: Stamford Advocate.
• Blue Wave Boys make it a lacrosse sweep: Stamford Advocate.

So far this season, Masuk junior Rachele Fico has tied a national record for most consecutive perfect games, is one away from tying the record for most perfect games in a season, and has pitched the Panthers to the SWC championship.

And while she has every right to talk in third person – and all about herself – she’s rather talk about her teammates and their accomplishments.

“I really don’t think about all the hype people make about me,” Fico said Friday at Deluca Field after the Panthers edged Bunnell 1-0 in the SWC semifinals. “I just want to go out there and play with my team and win some games, and so far that’s what we’re doing.”

And Masuk coach Jacqui Sheftz says that’s what Fico is – a modest superstar who puts team first and records second. As Sheftz puts it, they don’t make kids like her anymore.

“The best attribute is her character. She’s extremely humble, the credit goes to her teammates first, and it’s never to her,” Sheftz said. “No matter how many hits she gets, no matter how many batters she strikes out, she only cares about the W.”

And win is something that the Panthers have done a lot. This season alone, Masuk is 23-0 and heads into the Class LL playoffs as the top seed. And they’ve won primarily because of the junior Fico’s right arm.

Fico has thrown seven perfect games this season, one shy of the national record. And six of those came over a seven game stretch, including five straight, which tied a 19-year-old national record.
So as nice as she is off the field, and as much as she enjoys being around her teammates, the opposition is still in awe of Fico’s presence.

Just ask Bunnell head coach Heather Pullen, whose team has now lost twice this season by 1-0 scores. She says the thought of facing Fico can be stressful.

“When you face the best pitcher in the state of Connecticut, there is going to be a little bit of intimidation,” Pullen said. “You go in there afraid, but you have to constantly reiterate that anybody can be hitable, anyone can be off.”

On Friday, Bunnell was only able to manage a bunt single. When Masuk and Bunnell met a few weeks back, Fico threw a 10-inning perfect game.

“Rachele brings a totally different game of softball to the state of Connecticut, with her ability to through a variety of different pitches at this level,” Sheftz said. “I think any time there’s a 68 mile-per-hour fastball coming at you there’s going to be some level of intimidation.”

That gives Fico a big advantage, Sheftz said, even if her teammates are more important to her than seeing her name in the record books.

“It’s been so much fun,” Fico said of the season. “Our team has such great chemistry together. We love being at practice, we just love being together. It just shows we have so much fun and get along, and that’s why we’re so successful.”

Fico will play this summer with the U18 Gold Coast Hurricanes down in Florida. And when she returns – before her senior season begins at Masuk – she will get a chance to pitch for the world renown Stratford Brakettes. And starting in the fall of 2009, she will be at LSU, where she has already given a verbal commitment.