It has been a solid week for Greenwich High School’s softball team, which had a change of venue for its game against FCIAC opponent New Canaan on April 28, as its home game against the Rams took place before a large gathering under the lights at Byram Park’s Teufel Field.

The theme was Youth Night for the Cardinals, who recognized the youth softball teams in Greenwich prior to their game against the Rams, which saw GHS put forth a stellar against a strong conference foe.

Though Greenwich dropped an 8-2 decision to New Canaan in its special night game under the lights at Teufel field, it displayed slick fielding and impressive at-bats throughout the matchup and the Cardinals took their momentum into their next game versus Staples High School.

Following its loss against New Canaan, Greenwich defeated Staples on April 30, earning a well-played 4-3 home win at its usual home field – Greenwich High School. For the season so far, the improved Cardinals sport an overall record of 5-6 and FCIAC mark of 2-4, as they make significant strides toward qualifying for the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

Against New Canaan at Teufel Field, sophomore right-hander Hannah Winig was Greenwich’s starting pitcher. Winig allowed five earned runs in seven innings, while displaying good control, allowing only one walk against a powerful Rams lineup.

“Hannah’s been doing really well lately,” Greenwich coach Alexyss Conley said. “She is a sophomore, so she has a lot of room to grow and get stronger, but she’s been doing really well for us, throwing strikes when we need her to.”

Powering Greenwich at the plate against New Canaan were senior captain/centerfielder Cameron Clark and sophomore left fielder Sydney Coyne, both of whom hit triples deep in Teufel Field’s outfield. Both triples most likely would have been home runs in Greenwich’s home field at GHS.

“I think we worked really hard to turn around last week’s performance (losses against St. Joseph and Wilton) and I think we did really well,” said Clark, who hits second in the Cards’ batting order. “We obviously hit the ball really well. They’re a great team and we hung in with them the whole time.”

Indeed, the Cardinals made solid contact against hard-throwing New Canaan right-hander Marissa DelCarmine. The Rams, who have an impressive overall record of 9-2 and are 5-1 in the FCIAC, also made fine plays in the field in this conference contest.

“It was definitely not the outcome we wanted, but New Canaan is a very, very good team and I think we played well,” said Greenwich senior captain Gianna Toscano, who hits third in the batting order and made nice plays at her third base position. “The score doesn’t reflect us, because we had a nice defensive game and we had a nice hitting game.”

Capitalizing on a pair of GHS errors, the visiting Rams took a 3-0 first inning lead, then the Cards got a run back in the bottom of the first inning. Clark tripled to deep left field off DelCarmine and scored on a passed ball, cutting New Canaan’s lead to 3-1.

Winig settled in and pitched effectively for the Cardinals, holding the Rams scoreless in the second and third innings. Greenwich’s defense was sound throughout the game for Winig, with Clark making numerous catches in center field and sophomore shortstop Jesse Natale making several putouts. The Cards’ defensive performance was highlighted by Sydney Coyne’s great catch off a hard hit line drive to left field in New Canaan’s fifth inning.

“Our outfield was very strong and they knew where to throw it,” Toscano noted. “Our infield, Jesse at shortstop did amazing, our first baseman (sophomore, Hannah Zinker) was amazing and Hannah did great. That was one of Hannah’s best games.”

In the fourth inning, the Rams added two runs. Junior Julia Fittipaldi singled up the middle against Winig, freshman Mackenzie Carriero followed with a single and DelCarmine helped her own cause, delivering a two-run double, giving New Canaan a 5-1 advantage.

The Cardinals plated one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Coyne laced a triple deep down the left field line and scored when Natale singled, making it 5-2. New Canaan tallied three times in the top of the seventh inning, with DelCarmine and sophomore Margaret Dayton sparking their squad at the plate.

Despite the loss, the Cardinals were proud of their effort and knew it provided significant, positive aspects they could build upon for future games.

“It definitely didn’t feel like an 8-2 game,” Conley said. “I thought the girls, especially on a night like tonight, celebrating our Youth Night, came out ready to go from the start. We had a couple of errors in the first inning where they scored a couple of runs, but after that, they cleaned up the defense and it just came down to timely hitting.”

“After a tough week last week, bouncing back today against a really good team against New Canaan was nice to see,” Conley continued. “The bats were definitely alive, we just hit it right at them. Sydney and Cameron both had great triples today, we swung the bats well.”

New Canaan hit several fly balls to the outfield that were snared by Clark, who positioned herself well in center field.

“Hannah was giving them a lot of strikes and they’re a good hitting team, but I was just sitting in the gaps and waiting for them to hit it to me and was just reading the ball.,” Clark said.

The Greenwich Firebirds, a youth softball team in town, attended the game at Teufel Field, along with teams from Central, Eastern and Western Middle School.

Lauren Fico at the plate for New Canaan High School and Hailey Dreher catching for Greenwich High School during a varsity softball game at Teufel Field in Byram on April 28, 2025. The Rams posted an 8-2 victory.

“It was a lot of fun, the energy was high and we had a big audience for Youth Night,” Clark noted. “It was really fun, especially under the lights. Everyone was excited to be here and we really thrive off of that environment.”

On April 30, the Cardinals edged FCIAC rival Staples, 4-3. Up next for Greenwich is a game at Trumbull Friday (May 2). The Cardinals return home for a game against Darien on May 5, then travel to Danbury on May 7, before hosting Stamford on May 9.