CT RAPIDS TUNE-UP FOR NATIONALS --- WATERTOWN, CT --- JULY 18 & 19 STING GO 3-1 IN TUNE UP The Sting (24-8-1) continued their strong season this past weekend as they went 3-0 on Saturday to draw their 3rd number 1 seed of the season. Unfortunately a loss in the opening game of Sunday's elimination round sent the Sting home disappointed. This weekend was the last tournament before Nationals and after Saturday's performance the Sting clearly showed they were ready. In Game 1, the Sting faced the Eliminator's Black and defeated them 3-0. Kelly Feodorov kept the Eliminators powerhouse line-up off balance the entire game. Feodorov gave up just 4 hits, struck out 4, and walked 1. The game was scoreless until the 6th. Feodorov led off the inning with a base hit. Alyssa Castagna sacrificed her to second. With two outs Feodorov stole third. Kyra Poudrier drew a walk and stole second to put runners on second and third. Mal Dorflinger delivered a bomb into the left center field gap for a two run triple. Dorflinger scored on a wild pitch and the Sting led 3-0. In Game 2, the Sting defeated the Stratford Seahawks Blue team 2-0. Alysha Pieta was the winning pitcher. Pieta tossed a 3 hit shutout, struck out 3, and walked 1. The Sting played great defense behind Pieta, especially shortstop Kyra Poudrier who made two terrific backhanded plays in the hole. The Sting scored a run in the first. Kelly Feodorov singled and stole second. Alyssa Castagna sacrificed her to third and Mal Dorflinger singled her in. In the fifth, Kat Mosca led off the inning with a walk. Feodorov sacrificed her to second and Dorflinger plated her with a single. In Game 3, the Sting defeated the Green Devil's 4-0. Kelly Feodorov won her second game of the day. Feodorov held the Green Devil's to 3 hits, struck out 7 and walked 2. The Sting scored 2 in the first, 1 in the second, and 1 in the third. In the first, Kelly Feodorov led off the game with a single. Alyssa Castagna singled and Kyra Poudrier singled home Feodorov. Castagna scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Kat Mosca singled with two outs and Feodorov tripled her in. In the third, Poudrier singled and went to second when the right fielder bobbled the ball. Alysha Pieta's ground out moved Poudrier to third and she scored on a wild pitch. Feodorov had 3 hits and Poudrier had 2 to lead the offense. Once again, the 3-0 performance on Saturday gave the Sting a number 1 seed. Sunday's match-up was against the Stratford Seahawks Blue team whom they defeated 2-0 in game 2 on Saturday. The game was scoreless until the fourth when the Breakers scored 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk. The 3 runs would hold up and the Sting lost 3-0. The Sting had runners on in every inning including a leadoff hit in 5 of the 6 innings but couldn't capitalize. The Sting played great defense all weekend as they committed just one error. SEAHAWKS INVITATIONAL --- STRATFORD, CT --- JULY 12 & 13 STING WIN SEAHAWK INVITATIONAL The Sting won their second Championship of the year when they took down the Stratford Seahawk Invitational. Great pitching, great defense, and great hitting were the recipe for victory. The Sting pitching staff tossed 3 shutouts, allowed just 4 runs, and struck out 47 batters in the five games. The defense committed just 4 errors and 3 of them came in one game. Finally, the Sting hitters collected 42 hits and that included seven doubles and three triples. The Sting opened play against the host team, Stratford Seahawks. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth. Mal Dorflinger led off the inning with a single and Kyra Poudrier sacrificed her to second. Alysha Pieta's grounder up the middle was knocked down by the pitcher who threw to third base. Initially Dorflinger was called safe but the call was reversed by the home plate umpire and Dorflinger was out. With two outs, Taylor Bartolotta singled to center, and when the center fielder misplayed the ball, Pieta raced home and gave the Sting a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Kat Mosca led off with a walk and Kelly Feodorov doubled her in. Feodorov would also score and the lead was 3-0. The Seahawks threatened in the top of the sixth. With two on and one out the Seahawks number four hitter lined a bullet off pitcher Kelly Feodorov's leg to load the bases. Feodorov dropped to the ground in pain. After a few minutes Feodorov would not only get up but refused to leave the game. Kelly proceeded to strike out the next batter and get a line out to leave the bases loaded. The Sting put the game away in the sixth. Bartolotta singled, stole second, and scored on a long triple by Ashley Stokes. Feodorov drove in Stokes with a single and the Sting won 5-0. Feodorov was the winning pitcher. Kelly scattered 6 hits, struck out 11, and walked 2. In game two, the Sting defeated the Rhode Island All-stars 1-0. Alysha Pieta tossed a 5 hit shutout and struck out 6. The game-winning run came in the first inning. With two outs, Mal Dorflinger reached on an error by the shortstop. Kyra Poudrier singled and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Alysha Pieta grounded a ball back to the pitcher who threw it past the first baseman and Dorflinger scored. Poudrier ended the inning when she was tagged out at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch. The Sting had runners in every inning but couldn't get the big hit. Taylor Bartolotta had three hits to lead the offense. In Saturday's final game, the Sting defeated the Orange County, NY. Raiders 7-0. Kelly Feodorov faced the minimum number of batters in the contest. Kelly gave up just one hit, a double, but picked the runner off second. Feodorov recorded a season high 14 strikeouts, which included 8 out of the first 9 batters and 5 out of the last 6. The Sting hitters collected 14 hits. Kyra Poudrier went 3 for 4 with two ground rule doubles and Kat Mosca went 3 for 3. Taylor Bartolotta went 2 for 4 and ended the day 7 for 10. Saturday's 3-0 record gave the Sting a number 1 seed entering Sunday's elimination round. In game one on Sunday the Sting faced the Seahawks again. The game was scoreless after two innings. In the top of the third the Seahawks took a 2-0 lead. The Sting evened things out in the bottom half of the fourth. Alyssa Castagna led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a ground out by Taylor Bartolotta. Alysha Pieta then doubled home Castagna and scored on a wild pitch. In the fifth, Kelly Feodorov tripled with two outs and scored on a pass ball to give the Sting a 3-2 lead. The Seahawks tied the game up with a run in the top of the sixth but the Sting answered that with two runs in the bottom half. Bartolotta singled to open the inning, with one out, Kyra Poudrier hit a ground rule double into the woods in right center. Poudrier would have had at least a triple and the go ahead RBI. Ashley Stokes then lifted a fly ball to center field and Bartolotta tagged up and scored. Mal Dorflinger gave the Sting an insurance run with a long double over the left fielders head. Winning pitcher, Kelly Feodorov retired the Seahawks in order in the seventh to preserve the win. The Sting advanced to the Championship game and faced the Rhode Island All-stars whom they defeated 1-0 on Saturday. The Sting jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings and went on to win 4-1. Kelly Feodorov was the winning pitcher as she went the distance in another great performance. The Sting scored 3 runs in the second. With one out, Ashley Stokes drew a walk and moved to second on a ground out by Brooke Franco. Alyssa Castagna singled home Stokes for the first run. Feodorov then lifted a fly ball to short left field that fell in and Castagna scored. Kat Mosca singled and Feodorov went to third. Mosca and Feodorov then pulled off a perfectly executed double steal for the third run. In the third, Mal Dorflinger reached second on a throwing error by the third baseman and moved to third on a wild pitch. Stokes drew her second walk of the game to put runners on first and third. Franco dropped down a safety squeeze up the first baseline to score Dorflinger and the Stings fourth run. BREAKER BLOWOUT --- STRATFORD, CT --- JULY 5 & 6 THE STING WIN, LOSE & DRAW This past weekend the Sting entered the Breakers Blowout in Stratford, CT. The Sting initially had three games scheduled for Saturday's pool play. Unfortunately, heavy rains on Friday night prevented the early games from being played and the Sting's schedule was modified to two games. In game one, the Sting defeated the CT Mirage Teal 2-0. The game was scoreless until the top of the 4th inning. With one out, Kat Mosca drew a walk. Mal Dorflinger forced Mosca at second and, with two outs, Kyra Poudrier lined a triple into the right center field gap and drove in Dorflinger. The next batter, Alysha Pieta, singled up the middle and the Sting led 2-0. Kelly Feodorov went the distance for the shutout victory. Feodorov scattered 4 hits, struck out 6, and walked 1 in a brilliant performance. The Sting defense played errorless ball behind Feodorov. Taylor Bartolotta had two hits and a stolen base in the game. In the second game, the Sting played the Tradition South. Once again the game was a battle of great pitching and defense. In the top of the third, Ashley Stokes led off with a walk. Michelle Brown sacrificed her to second. Kat Mosca moved Stokes to third on a ground out to second. With two outs, Kelly Feodorov's grounder to third was thrown away and Stokes scored to give the Sting a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, the Tradition tied the score. With two outs, the Tradition's number seven hitter drove a ball over the head of left fielder Taylor Bartolotta for a double and an RBI single followed that. After the end of regulation the score remained 1-1. According to the rules the game must end in a tie during pool play. Feodorov went the distance again and once again pitched a tremendous game. The 1-0-1 Saturday record gave the Sting a number 4 seed for Sunday's elimination round. The Sting drew the Tradition South team again. This would be the third time these teams would play this year. The two teams match up very well against each other. How well? The first time the teams played, the Sting defeated them 9-1 to advance to the championship game in the Eliminator's Best of Best Tournament held in Middletown. The second game was yesterday's 1-1 tie and in the third game the Tradition defeated the Sting 7-1. Unfortunately, Sunday's loss eliminated the Sting. Taylor Bartolotta had two hits in the game. Alyssa Castagna had a hit, a stolen base, and a run scored, and Alysha Pieta had a hit and a RBI. SHORELINGER STINGER --- MADISON, CT --- JUNE 28 & 29 STING EARNS TOP SEED For the first time in their short history the Sting earned a top seed after the first round. The Sting went 2-1 and allowed just 4 runs on the opening day of the Shoreline Stinger Tournament on Saturday. In game 1, the Sting defeated the Stratford Seahawks 6-0. Kelly Feodorov pitched the complete game shutout and extended her earned run streak to 33 innings. In the second, the Sting line-up batted around and posted 4 runs. Alysha Pieta led off the inning with a single. Michelle Brown sacrificed her to second and Brooke Franco singled Pieta in. Kat Mosca then singled Franco to third and stole second. Feodorov then helped herself with a 2 run double. Alyssa Castagna singled and stole second and Feodorov scored when Mal Dorflinger's grounder to short was booted. The Sting scored two more in the sixth when Chelsea Pantano led off with a walk, Mosca singled, Feodorov sacrificed the runners and both scored on Castagna's grounder to second that was mishandled. Feodorov scattered 6 hits and struck out 9. The Sting dropped game two, 2-0 to the Shoreline Sting Blue Squad. Alysha Pieta went the distance in the circle and pitched well. The Sting loaded the bases in the 5th and 6th but couldn't get the big hit. Castagna, Dorflinger, Ashley Stokes, and Pieta all had hits. In game 3, the Sting defeated the eventual champions Long Island Fire & Ice, 3-2. Kelly Feodorov was the winning pitcher and extended her earned run streak to 38 innings before giving up 2 earned runs in the 6th. The game was scoreless until the 4th. Kat Mosca led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Mal Dorflinger brought her home with a ground out to second. With two outs, Kyra Poudrier singled, Alysha Pieta reached on an error and Taylor Bartolotta singled in Poudrier. Michelle Brown's grounder to third was booted and Pieta scored to give the Sting a 3-0 lead. The Sting defense played terrific ball all day as they cut two runners off at the plate in this game. On Sunday, the Sting opened play against the Renegades and defeated them 7-1. The Sting scored in every inning but the 5th. In the first, Kelly Feodorov walked and scored on an RBI single by Alysha Pieta. In the second, Brooke Franco singled and scored on an RBI single by Kat Mosca. In the third, Ashley Stokes singled and scored on a grounder by Alyssa Castagna. In the fourth, Mal Dorflinger reached on an error and went to second as the ball got past the first baseman. Dorflinger scored on an RBI single by Kyra Poudrier and Poudrier scored on and RBI triple by Pieta. The Sting scored two more in the sixth. Dorflinger lined a sharp single to left and Pieta walked. Dorflinger scored on Stokes' ground out to short. Pieta scored on Michelle Brown's ground out to the pitcher. Pieta was the winning pitcher. Pieta gave up 1 unearned run, struck out 5, walked 2, and gave up 3 hits. The win put the Sting into the final four for the third straight week. Unfortunately, unlike the past two weeks, which saw the Sting finish as runners-up in the Eliminators Best of Best and the Champions in the June Bash, the Sting's run to the Championship game came to an end as they were defeated by the Long Island Fire & Ice, 2-0. The Sting once again played very well defensively and got outstanding pitching from Kelly Feodorov. Long Island's pitcher did not walk a batter and their defense played errorless ball. Sting hitters hit the ball hard in every inning but right at the Long Island defenders. JUNE BASH --- FRANKLIN, MA --- JUNE 21 & 22 STING WIN JUNE BASH IN FRANKLIN, MA Last week the Sting played in their first ever championship and finished second. Last week's tournament was played in the Sting's backyard. It's always nice to play in a familiar setting and the Sting proved it by playing their best ball of the year. This weekend the Sting traveled about 100 miles to Franklin, MA. You would think they would find themselves in an unfamiliar place amongst unfamiliar people. Well that was not the case. Last year the Sting played in the same tournament as a 14U team and played well enough to earn a birth to the National's. Franklin, MA. has become a favorite place of the Sting with familiar field's, familiar umpires and familiar teams. On Saturday morning the Sting opened the tournament against the NY Blast. In the first inning the Sting took advantage of a pitcher who could not find the strike zone. The Sting loaded the bases with 3 walks. Kyra Poudrier then grounded a ball to the shortstop who tried to force the speedy Alyssa Castagna at the plate but the throw was late and the Sting went up 1-0. The next batter was Alysha Pieta who drew the 4th walk of the inning and an RBI. The scored stayed at 2-0 until the 5th when Kelly Feodorov doubled, moved to 3rd on a ground out by Castagna and scored on a great bunt by Mal Dorflinger. Feodorov went the distance in the circle, gave up 1 unearned run and the Sting started the trip with a 3-1 victory. Game 2 on Saturday didn't turn out as well. Let's just say this game was a humbling experience that proved a team cannot lose focus, go through the motions and expect to win at this level. The Sting, who have played almost flawless defense over the past 8 games, fell apart. They committed 5 errors and gave up 4 unearned runs. To make things worse, the Sting was unable to record a hit. In the 1st, Kelly Feodorov and Alyssa Castagna reached base on errors and Mal Dorflinger walked to load the bases with no outs. The Massachusetts Manchester Mystics pitcher retired the next 13 out of 14 batters and the Sting lost 4-0. Alysha Pieta was the starting pitcher and went the distance and pitched well enough to win most games. The good thing about these tournaments is that you don't have to wait very long to get back out on the field with an opportunity to redeem yourself. That is exactly what the Sting did in their 3rd game of the day. In the top of the 1st, Kelly Feodorov led the game off with a walk, Kat Mosca singled, and Mal Dorflinger walked. Both Feodorov & Mosca would score and the Sting led 2-0. In the 3rd the Sting would add two more runs to their total. Dorflinger and Kyra Poudrier both hit doubles and Alysha Pieta and Taylor Bartolotta would both single. Starting pitcher, Kelly Feodorov kept the Mass. Raiders in check the entire game. Kelly gave up 5 hits, struck out 7 and did not walk a batter. The game was called after 5 innings when time expired. The Sting won 4-0. The 2-1 record with just 5 runs allowed earned the Sting a number 3 seed for Sunday's elimination round. The Sting opened up against the CT Mirage. In the first, Alyssa Castagna singled, moved to third and scored on an RBI single by Ashley Stokes. In the 2nd, Alysha Pieta doubled, Brooke Franco singled her to 3rd and then stole second to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Kelly Feodorov hit a hard grounder to third that looked like it would end the inning but when the throw went wide both Pieta and Franco scored to give the Sting a 3-0 lead. In the 3rd Mal Dorflinger singled. Stokes sacrificed her to second. Dorflinger then advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch. Kyra Poudrier walked and stole second and once again a routine ground ball hit by Michelle Brown, that looked to end the inning was thrown past the first basemen and two runs scored for a 5-0 lead. The game was interrupted in the 3rd due to lighting and then ended in the 4th when the rains came. Alysha Pieta picked up the win. Alysha allowed 4 hits, struck out 2, and walked 3 in the shut out performance. The win put the Sting into the final 4. Their next opponent was the number 1 seed CT Hornets. The game featured a classic pitching duel between Kelly Feodorov and Jenn Cruver. Cruver was the winning pitcher for North Haven High School's State Championship team in 2008. The pitcher's matched zeros through 4 innings. However, in the 5th the Sting broke the 0-0 tie. Kyra Poudrier led off the inning as Cruver walked her first batter of the game. Alysha Pieta then laid down a sacrifice bunt and when the Hornets first basemen dropped the ball the Sting had something going with 2 on and nobody out. After a fly out, Brooke Franco singled and the bases were loaded. Kat Mosca then broke the tie with a line drive single that scored Poudrier. Feodorov followed that with an RBI single and Alyssa Castagna's ground out scored Franco for the third run. Feodorov was masterful in the circle. Kelly kept the tough Hornet's line-up off balance the entire game and helped herself by fielding her position with 3 put outs and 2 assists. Kelly gave up just 3 hits, struck out 8, and once again, did not walk a batter. The Sting defense committed just one error and made some fine plays behind Feodorov. The Championship Game was against the Merrimack Valley Twisters. The Twisters knocked the Sting out of this tournament last year. The Sting would strike first in the 2nd inning. Kyra Poudrier singled and stole second. With two outs, Taylor Bartolotta delivered the game winning RBI and only run of the game. The Sting put runners on base in every inning after that but couldn't push anything else across. Kelly Feodorov picked up right where she left off against the Hornets. After a lead off single in the first, Kelly retired the next 9 batters in order. A bunt single in the fourth put the tying run on with one out. Kelly struck out the next batter and on the play Mal Dorflinger threw a missile to first base and picked off the runner to end the inning. In the 6th, a lead off single and an error put the tying run on second with no outs. Kelly struck out the next two batters and got a ground out to end the threat. In the seventh the Twisters loaded the bases with one out. How would Feodorov get out of this jam? How about a 1-2-3 double play to end the game and give the Sting their first Championship Banner. Feodorov ended the weekend 4-0 and she gave up just 1 unearned run. Congratulations Sting! ELIMINATORS BEST OF BEST --- MIDDLETOWN, CT --- JUNE 14 & 15 KIKI PERRY INSPIRES STING TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME The Shoreline Sting participated in the 16U Eliminators Best of Best Tournament on June 14-15. The tournament was held in Middletown at Snow School and Moody School. Snow School field 1 is where the Kiki Perry memorial scoreboard is located. The Sting opened the tournament versus Valley Fusion on Saturday morning on that very field. The game was scoreless after the first 2 innings but in the top of the 3rd Kelly Feodorov led off the inning with a double, Alyssa Castagna dropped down a bunt single to put runners on the corners. Castagna then stole second and Mal Dorflinger knocked in both runners with a double. Dorflinger moved to 3rd on a wild pitch and Taylor Bartolotta brought her in with a sacrifice fly. With 2 out and nobody on Alysha Pieta tripled and scored on a wild pitch and the Sting took a 4-0 lead. This is all they would need as Feodorov would toss a complete game shutout. Feodorov struck out 12, walked 1 and scattered 5 hits. The Sting added 3 more runs in the 5th inning. With 1 out Brooke Franco walked, Pieta walked and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Kyra Poudrier doubled in both runners. Poudrier would score on an error. In the 6th, Castagna singled, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Dorflinger's second double of the game. Franco drove in Dorflinger with a single to right and the Sting won 9-0. In game 2 on Saturday, the Sting lost to the Pink Panthers 7-4. This game was played on Snow 2. The Sting would jump out to a 4-1 lead in the second. Chelsea Pantano walked, Kat Mosca singled, Kelly Feodorov singled, Alyssa Castagna singled in a run, and Mal Dorflinger singled in 2 runs. The Panthers would score 6 unanswered runs after that to win the game. In game 3 on Saturday, the Sting moved to Moody School and defeated the Westchester NY Warriors 4-2. Alysha Pieta was the winning pitcher. The Sting scored in the first on a lead off walk to Kelly Feodorov. Alyssa Castagna sacrifice bunted Feodorov to second and Feodorov scored on a wild pitch. In the 2nd, Michelle Brown singled, Brooke Franco walked, and Kat Mosca singled. All three would score to give the Sting a 4-1 lead. Pieta was in control the entire game and the Warriors would not be able to mount a comeback. The 2-1 record on Saturday earned the Sting a 7 seed for the single elimination round on Sunday. On Sunday the Sting opened on Snow 1 against the NY Clash. In the first, Kelly Feodorov led off with a single and scored on a passed ball to give the Sting a 1-0 lead. In the 2nd, Michelle Brown drew a 2 out walk, Kat Mosca drew a walk and Feodorov singled in Brown to increase the lead to 2-0. The Clash scored one in the top of the 4th and threatened to score more but great defense by Brooke Franco would prevent this from happening. With runners on 2nd and 3rd a fly ball was hit to Franco in right field. Franco caught the ball and threw a one hopper to the plate to hold the runners. The next batter hit a sinking line drive that Franco caught on her shoe strings to end the inning. Franco also made a running catch in the gap in the second inning to prevent extra bases. The Sting would answer the Warriors with a run in the bottom of the 4th. Taylor Bartolotta walked, Michelle Brown singled and Feodorov singled home Bartolotta. In the 5th, Ashley Stokes singled and moved to third. Kyra Poudrier would bring home Stokes with a sacrifice fly and a 4-1 lead. The Clash made things interesting in the 6th as they scored two runs to cut the lead to 4-3. However, with 2 outs and the tying run on 1st Mal Dorflinger picked off the runner and a terrific run down ended the game. In game 2 on Sunday the Sting defeated Challenger USA 1-0. Alysha Pieta went the distance. Pieta allowed runners in 5 of the 6 innings but was able to battle her way out trouble. In the first Pieta gave up a lead off single but would strike out the number 2 and 3 batters. In the 2nd with a runner on second and two outs a single to center looked to bring home a run but center fielder Alyssa Castagna rifled a throw to catcher Mal Dorflinger who tagged out the runner at the plate. In the 4th, Pieta loaded the bases with one out but was able to induce a pop-up to first and then struck out a batter for the final out. Pieta allowed a runner in the 5th and 2 in the 6th but once again she dug down deep and stranded them. The Sting's only run came in the first. Castagna doubled and Ashley Stokes knocked her in with double. The win would put the Sting into the final 4. Game 3 on Sunday was originally scheduled to be played on Snow 2 but was moved back to Snow 1 to keep things moving along. The Sting had no problem with that decision and went on to destroy the Tradition 9-1 to advance to the Championship game. The Sting jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Kelly Feodorov doubled, Alyssa Castagna laid down a bunt single and Alysha Pieta drew a walk to load the bases. With two outs, Kyra Poudrier cleared the bases with a clutch double into the right center field gap. The Sting would add a run in the 3rd. Ashley Stokes singled, Pieta sacrificed her to second, Poudrier moved her to third on a ground out and Stokes would score on a wild pitch. In the 5th the Sting would put things away. Stokes led off with a single. Chelsea Pantano pitch ran for Stokes. Pieta would again lay down a sacrifice bunt to move Pantano to second. Poudrier, Taylor Bartolotta, and Michelle Brown all drew walks. Feodorov then drove in 2 runs with a single and Castagna brought home 2 more with a double. Feodorov went the distance in the circle to record her 3rd win of the tournament. Feodorov gave up just 3 hits, struck out 7 and did not walk a batter. The Championship game was played at Moody School against the Eliminators Red. The Eliminators were runners up in the 16U National's Tournament in 2007. The Sting lost 8-0. Alysha Pieta went 1-1 with a single and a walk and Ashley Stokes was 1-2 with a double. The Championship appearance is the Stings first since their inception in 2007. The Sting finished with a 5-2 record in the tournament and 4-0 on Snow 1 where Kiki Perry was their emotional leader. CLASSIC COMMOTION QUALIFIER --- SEYMOUR, CT --- JUNE 7 & 8 STING EARNS NUMBER TWO SEED ON SATURDAY --- CAN'T ADVANCE ON SUNDAY The Shoreline Sting began their 2008 campaign by taking two games on Saturday 2-0 and 9-0 respectively. The two wins earned the Sting a number two seed in Sunday's elimination round. In game one, the Sting defeated the New Milford Jade. Kelly Feodorov threw a no hit shutout and faced just one batter over the minimum. The game went five innings before the hour and twenty minute time limit was up. The Sting scored their first run in the first when Feodorov scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Chelsea Pantano knocked in Taylor Bartolotta with a ground out to short. That's all Feodorov would need. In game two, the Sting defeated the CT Hornets Red. Alyssa Castagna earned the win by tossing two hit ball over four innings. Alysha Pieta pitched a scoreless inning to close things out. The Sting scored in the first when Kyra Poudrier drew a bases loaded walk. In the second, Mallorie Dorflinger singled in Pantano and Ashley Stokes singled in Feodorov. In the fourth, Dorflinger doubled in Castagna and scored on a groundball by Poudrier that was miss handled and Bartolotta knocked in Poudrier with a single. The Sting scored three more in the fifth. Poudrier singled in a run and Pieta knocked in two with a singled. The Sting collected 10 hits in the game. On Sunday, the Sting lost 9-6 to the CT Hornets Black. The Hornets jumped out to 7-0 lead after two at bats. In the bottom of the second the Sting scored 4 runs to cut the lead to 7-4. Poudrier stole home on a double steal for the first run. Katherine Mosca knocked in Pieta with a fielder's choice. Brooke Franco's sacrifice bunt brought home Bartolotta and Mosca scored on an error. The Sting scored another run in the fourth on an RBI ground out by Franco. Castagna scored the final run in the fifth.