West Haven — The seven seniors on the Fitch High School softball roster first won a state championship as freshmen in 2014 under then-interim coach Arielle Cooper. And they've been to the finals every season since then.

What made Thursday's loss so sorrowful, though, wasn't the fact the Falcons wouldn't get the chance to play for another title, falling to Joel Barlow in the Class L semifinals. It was that their tenure, their time together, had come to an abrupt end.

“The seven seniors have built a foundation for Fitch softball that will last a lifetime,” said Cooper, now the Falcons head coach. “I'm really emotional the last few weeks. I've known these kids since they were in Mystic Little League, but they're on to bigger and better.

“They're a group that won't be forgotten. They've done so much for Fitch alone. … It's going to be tough for a few days.”

Tenth-seeded Barlow scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to upend No. 11 Fitch 6-5, getting the final say in a back and forth game in which there were a combined 21 hits and seven errors.

Leadoff hitter Kristen Acocella hit a line drive to center field for a solo home run with one out in the sixth, tying the game at 5-5. With two outs, Briana Marcelino singled to left and advanced to second on an error, then scored what would be the winning run on a first-pitch single to center by Taylor Maccia.

That left Fitch, the visiting team, with just three more outs to extend its season, facing a pitcher in Barlow reliever Caitlin Colangelo against whom the Falcons never really seemed to settle in.

Colangelo retired Fitch in order, sending Barlow (19-7) to its first state championship appearance in program history.

Fitch finished 21-7 overall with an Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament title, winning 11 straight games headed into Thursday's semifinal.

That gives the seniors — Rylee MacMillan, Jayden Delaporta, Taylor Wolfgang, Jonell Hobert, Susanna Mewha, Nicole Vignato and Cassie Woods, all a part of the starting lineup against Barlow — a career record of 99-9 with two state championships and a 65-game regular-season winning streak which ended earlier this year. Cooper coached them all four seasons, three as head coach and one as assistant.

“I'm so appreciative to Coop,” said Woods, the Falcons center fielder who was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI in the game. “She always believed in us. That's what sucks the most; we're not going to be together anymore, our team and Coop. She made me into the athlete I am today.

“It's been an awesome four years.”

Barlow struck first on an unearned run in the second inning, getting a two-out RBI single from Catie Boudiette.

Fitch made it 3-1 in the third on RBI singles by Wolfgang and Delaporta and on an RBI double to the fence by sophomore Olivia Carney. But Barlow quickly tied it in the bottom of the inning on two hits and a Fitch error, setting a frenetic tone for the remainder of the game.

Each team scored a run in the fourth to make it 4-4. Woods drove in Mewha with an RBI single for Fitch. And Fitch scored again in the sixth for a 5-4 lead when MacMillan singled, stole second and came around on a double to left by Woods.

But that still left six outs to go against a hard-hitting Barlow team, which moved on to face No. 4 Torrington in the championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday in West Haven.

“It was our first quarterfinal ever last week, then our first semifinal ever, now our first final,” said Barlow coach Craig Sears, in his first season. “We compete. We have girls, I'm pretty sure everyone likes each other. They take on the mentality I have, 'don't take yourself too seriously.'”

Sears said the home run was the 150th career hit for Acocella, who came back from a torn ACL just about a year ago.

“It is tough, but you can't really say anything too negative,” Cooper said of the loss. “They have stepped up beyond what my expectations were this year (without Gatorade Player of the Year Caroline Taber, the Falcons' pitcher, who graduated).

“… I don't think we made the best adjustments. I don't think we had our 100 percent energy today. I think we were a little scared. We held on a little bit too tight today, that's what kicked us a few times. But you can't just give up. You got to go in there still fighting even though the odds are against you.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com