Ledyard — Ledyard's players, having not competed outside the Eastern Connecticut Conference during the regular season due to COVID-19 restrictions, were discussing whether or not they were more nervous to move on to the Class L state softball tournament semifinals next week against an unknown opponent or to play ECC rival Fitch in Friday's quarterfinal round.

"I was really nervous (today)," Ledyard junior shortstop Samantha Money said. "We know them. They know us. (Fitch's Charlotte Cabral) is an awesome pitcher. She knows us. She knows what to throw us."

"Last time we played them, I didn't strike out a single batter," Ledyard senior pitcher Sara Rivers said. "We're scared of them."

Ledyard celebrated a 6-2 victory, reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1996. There, the sixth-seeded Colonels (18-3) will meet No. 2 St. Joseph, a 9-0 winner Friday over Naugatuck. That game will take place either Monday or Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.

But to get there, Ledyard had to go through Fitch, which narrowed the score to 4-2 on an RBI single by McKynzi Dawson and had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth inning.

That's when the defensive polish that Ledyard has been known for much of the season kicked in.

The Fitch runner on first base, Gabby Amaral, took off for second and Ledyard catcher Paige Perkins appeared to try to catch her stealing. Money, at short, cut the throw, however, and gunned it back to Perkins in plenty of time to get the runner coming to the plate.

With two outs, Fitch sophomore designated player Abriel Carey then launched a fly ball to left field of which outfielder Shailynn Williams made a leaping stab for the final out, ending the rally.

Fitch (13-7) managed 11 hits, two each by Maddie Southers and Alyson Cabral, but stranded seven runners.

"This is probably the best team I've ever been on," said Money, who earned Class L all-state honors this season. "One through 12, one through 15, I know we're all going to bring heart. There's a lot of trust on this team. ... Once I see (sophomore second baseman) Layla (Lasisomphone) over there stopping missiles, I just have to too. We feed off each other. You can just feel it."

"These are the games we live for," Ledyard coach Brittany Robinson said, "with butterflies the whole time. We have so much confidence in the dugout in our defense. We knew we had to trust our defense."

Ledyard scored twice in the first inning when Money led off with a bloop single, followed by an RBI double by Aaliyah Amidon and an RBI single by Iyana Kirvan.

Fitch pulled within 2-1 with a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Charlotte Cabral, but Ledyard got two back in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Money and Amidon. Fitch added a run in the sixth on Dawson's run-scoring hit, but Ledyard scored a pair of insurance runs for the final margin. With two outs, No. 9 hitter Madison Miller bounced a single off the pitcher's mound and Money drilled an RBI triple to right.

Money had three hits and Amidon and Kivan had two each.

"We talk about, 'You're not going to be the star every day,'" Robinson said. "Every game it's a new person. That's exactly what we need. We know we can trust each other."

Fitch coach Kyle Baron said his team picked up momentum in the tournament from earlier wins over No. 19 Sacred Heart Academy (3-1) in the first round and No. 3 Berlin (5-0) in the second round.

"We were firing on all cylinders," Baron said. "Berlin, that was the best game I've seen us play in a long time. I'm so proud of this team. We're young. We're energetic. We're intense. We're going to be back."

v.fulkerson@theday.com