There was a lot riding on the line in the Connecticut Class LL title for Southington High, rated No. 38 nationally in the most recent FloSoftball FAB 50 high rankings.

The Blue Knights softball team was shooting for its third straight championship and 17^th overall for the school, not to mention extending a 69-game win streak and an undefeated season.

It didn’t look good, however, as the Central Connecticut power was down 4-0 in the fifth inning to Cheshire High last Saturday, but great teams find a way to win and Southington clawed back for a 5-4 victory as shortstop Lauren Zazzaro hit a sacrifice fly to score senior infielder/catcher Bella Russo with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

“Cheshire’s a fantastic team,” Zazzaro told the Hartford Courtant after the game. “We knew it was probably going to take the best game we ever played. We never lost any energy, we just kept coming back time and time again. Key hits, key walks, great pitching — everything was solid teamwork.”

The Knights finished the season 24-0 and undefeated for the second straight year following last season’s exciting 15-inning championship game win which also came on a walk-off hit–a home run by senior Rachel Rube.

The title victory meant that All-American senior pitcher Kendra Friedt, a Boston College signee, finished her career undefeated. She gave up five hits in the game while striking out two

“A lot of people say we’re never put in hard situations,” Friedt told the Courant. “But a lot of teams would have given up and caved in at that point. We never for one second thought we wouldn’t win. We knew we just needed an inning to bust it open and get a couple runs in.”

Amazingly, it was only the second time all year Southington had been behind in a game. The first was way back on April 24 when the Knights trailed Mahoney 1-0 before going on to win 3-1 in nine innings.

Cheshire (23-3) put three runs on the board in the second highlighted by an RBI single by sophomore Sam Simione, who went 3-for-3. She would score the Rams final run in the fourth on an RBI single by senior Olivia Odermatt.

Southington would answer right back the next inning when middle infielder Kaitlin Paterson knocked in a run, outfielder Emily Lippincott brought home Russo on a squeeze bunt and Zazzaro would knock in two with a double, tying the game at 4-4.

It looked like the Knights would take the lead as catcher Maighread Scafariello smacked what appeared to be a home run over the centerfield fence, but Odermatt make a highlight catch, falling over the fence to secure the third out.

Cheshire coach Kristine Drust was gracious in defeat, telling the Courant: “”We were good enough to win today, the ball just didn’t bounce our way. That team has been here before. That pitcher [Friedt] has been on the mound a couple times in this situation. That may have given them the edge today.”

Paterson, who is headed to Central Connecticut, went 3-for-3 and was named the game’s MVP.

With nine straight victories to start off the 2016 season, Southington would break the state record for longest consecutive win streak currently held by Seymour which won 78 games from 2005 to 2007.