Avon captures first District 6 Little League softball championship

Players on the Avon Major Division softball celebrate and hug third baseman Jackie Funderberk after an inning-ending catch in Wednesday night’s District 6 championship game. Avon beat East Granby/Granby, 9-5.

SIMSBURY, June 28, 2023 – Avon’s Major Division softball team found ways to win over the past two evenings to win their first District 6 championship Wednesday night with a 9-5 win over East Granby/Granby.

Coupled with a 3-2 win in seven innings on Tuesday, Avon swept the best-of-3 championship series, 2-0, to advance to the state tournament.

A team comprised of girls from Avon and Simsbury played together and represented District 6 in the 2020 state tournament but this is the first time an Avon-only squad won a District 6 softball title at the Major Division (ages 10-12) level.

Avon (2-0) had just two hits on Wednesday night but took advantage of 11 walks, three hit batters and several wild pitches to score nine runs.

On Tuesday night, East Granby/Granby starting pitcher Ashley Tetreault was outstanding, striking out 11 and limiting Avon to seven hits. But three walks in the seventh inning helped Avon capture an extra inning victory in game one, 3-2.

Fallyn Banks had two hits for Avon with Anna Kelly ripping a double and Jackie Funderbunk getting a triple. Starting pitcher Lena Storz gave up five hits and struck out seven. Brianna Connellan picked up the win in relief, pitching two scoreless innings.

“The amazing part of this team is that every single contributed either today or yesterday,” Avon manager Kevin Connellan said. “We had great catching. We had great infield play. We had great outfield play. It was all amazing.”

Avon celebrates after winning their first District 6 softball championship as a one-town team.

In the D6 finals for the ninth time in the last 10 years, East Granby/Granby had eight hits in the game but stranded eight runners.

East Granby/Granby took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk to Kiele Lizon.

Avon responded in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of runs scoring on bases-loaded walks for a 2-1 lead.

Avon extended their lead to 3-1 in the second inning. Hitter Ashley Morello walked, stole second base and scored on a throwing error on the play to steal second base.

East Granby/Granby tied the game at 3-3 in the third inning on thanks to three RBI doubles from Tetreault, Caitlin Van Neal and Addy Perkins.

Avon regained the lead, 4-3, in the bottom of the third inning on a RBI double from Banks. Avon added a fifth run in the fourth inning on a wild pitch. Four more runs in the fifth inning gave Avon the cushion they needed to win the championship.

“We’re kinda sad there are just two teams in (the tournament). The pitcher Granby has is phenomenal,” Kevin Connellan said. “She throws fireballs and usually has really good control. We knew if we could get a few runs we would have a chance to win and we did.”

Avon advances to the Section II state tournament in Shelton on Thursday, July 6. They will face the winner on Wednesday night’s game between the District 3 and District 5 champion.

East Granby/Granby was looking for their first District 6 title since 2019 when they beat Avon/Simsbury. This was just the second appearance in the finals this century for an Avon-only team. The last appearance was in 2013 when Simsbury beat Avon, 4-3.

Avon 9, East Granby/Granby 5
At Simsbury
East Granby/Granby (0-2)     103  001  — 5-8-2
Avon (2-0)                                211  14x  — 9-2-0
Ashley Tetreault and Caitlin Van Neil; Brianna Connellan, Lena Storz (3) and Meredith Parker; WP: Connellan (2-0); LP: Tetreault (0-1); 2B: Tetreault (EG), Van Neal (EG), Addy Perkins (EG), Fallyn Banks (A)

Game 1
Avon 3, East Granby/Granby 2 (7)
At Granby
East Granby/Granby (0-1)   000  200  0  — 2-7-1
Avon (1-0)                              100  100  1  — 3-7-1
Ashley Tetreault, Addy Perkins (7) and Caitlin Van Neal; Lena Storz, Brianna Connellan (6) and Meredith Parker; WP: Connellan (1-0); LP: Perkins (0-1); 2B: Anna Kelly (A), Caitlin Van Neal (EG), Avery Bednarz (EG), Ashley Tetreault (EG); 3B: Jackie Funderberk (A); Addy Perkins (EG)