2021 Columbus Day Bash Softball Tournament

October 9^th-11^th 2021

16u & 18u Divisions

Hartford, CT

Robert Gallucci | Director of Marketing & Digital Content

Firecracker Sports hosted the fourth annual Columbus Day Bash Tournament but added softball for the first time ever. This was poised to be the first full tournament after the intense rains of Fourth of July rendered fields unplayable and forced us to cancel the remainder of the tournament. With little to no rain in the forecast, we were incredibly excited to start action in Connecticut.

Day 1, Saturday

I started my tournament on a chilly and blustery day at Glastonbury High School in Glastonbury, CT with the 18u Division. The first game pitted CT Impact 18U Regional “Pia” against Diamond Zone 16U White. Both teams got their offense started, totaling 14 combined hits but couldn’t quite get across the line against steadfast defense. Diamond Zone would strike first with one run in the bottom of the second inning before CT Impact answered back to level things in the third inning. Both teams would tally one more run and the game would end in a 2-2 tie in six innings due to time limit. Sam Nilsen (2022) led CT Impact at the plate as she went 2-2 and added one RBI. Madisyn Porter (2024) led Diamond zone with a 2-2 performance while suppling one RBI and one run scored.

Game two brought Metrowest Thunder “Hernandez” to challenge CT Impact. Metrowest started well, scoring the first run of the game in the top of the first but a combination of timely hitting and costly errors lit the scoreboard up in favor of CT Impact. They would score one run in the first, two in the second, two in the third and four runs in the fourth inning to take the game 9-1 in four innings due to time limit. CT Impact was led in their second game by Sofia Wenz-Bazan (2024) as she tallied three RBI while going 1-3 with a double. Arianna Kedersha (2024) was 2-2 at the plate with a double and tallied two runs and one RBI in her effort.

Game three brought Diamond zone back for their second game to face off with Granite State Elite U18 Blue. Diamond Zone started hot out of the gates, putting five runs on the scoreboard in the first inning. Granite State would claw one back in the second inning to lessen the deficit 5-1. Diamond Zone would extend their lead to 9-1 with four runs coming in the top of the fourth. Both teams would score twice in their next trips to the plate to make the score 11-3 in the fifth inning. Granite State would register three runs in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap, but the game would end there with Diamond Zone on top 11-6 in five innings due to time limit. Bella LaTorre (2024) led the line for Diamond Zone as she went 2-2 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. For the Granite State offensive effort, Paige Ouellette (2022) supplied two RBI and a run scored as she went 1-4.

Game four of the day at Glastonbury and the temperature started to drop and feel like the depths of fall. Metrowest Thunder “Hernandez” came back for their second game and faced off with New England Elite “Demmons”. Elite’s offense proved too much for Metrowest to handle as they put up seven runs in the first inning, two in the second and three in the third to win the game 12-0 in three innings due to mercy. Jaydn Kimball (2024) brought in a game leading three RBI while adding one run scored in a 3-3 game with two doubles.

The fifth and final game of the day at Glastonbury kept New England Elite “Demmons” around to take on with Granite State Elite U18 Blue. New England carried their momentum into their second game, scoring three runs in the first and one run in the second inning to take an early 4-0 lead. Granite State battled back and would level things up 4-4 in the top of the fourth inning. New England took their lead back immediately as they scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, going ahead 6-4. Both teams would tally one run in the fifth and the game would end with that 7-5 score line, New England on top, six innings due to time limit.  Brooke Gerry (2024) propelled New England Elite to victory as she went 2-2 with a double, adding three RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. Gerry also had a solid day in the circle, throwing five innings, allowing three hits and one earned run with no walks and striking out 12 batters.

Day 2, Sunday

For the second day of pool play, I headed over to Trinity College in Hartford, CT for 16u division action. This beautiful campus was graced by sun and far less wind than the first day and was a beautiful setting for the final day of pool play. Game one lined up Team Steel Elite 16u against CT Thunder. Team Steel started well, scoring once in the first and again in the second to take the early 2-0 lead. CT Thunder would half the deficit in the bottom of the second with a lone run, trailing 2-1. CT Thunder would take their first lead of the game in the third inning when they tallied five runs to take a 6-2 lead. This back-and-forth game continued into the fourth inning as Team Steel put up four runs to tie the game at 6-6. CT Thunder wasted not time and answered back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-6 lead. The lead was extended further with four runs coming in the sixth inning and ending the game in CT Thunder’s favor 12-6 in six innings du to time limit. Madison Woods (2024) started off her day in style as she went 2-3 with three RBI, two runs scored and one stolen base for CT Thunder. Teammate Madison Thoesen (2025) was 2-4 in the game with a triple, three RBI and a run scored to further the offensive effort. Team Steel’s Alexandria Audia (2025) put in a fantastic shift as she batted 2-2 with two doubles and two RBI.

Game two at Trinity kept Team Steel around and brought in Voodoo Softball “Barnaby” as their next opponent. Voodoo started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with two runs to take the first lead. Team Steel halved the deficit with one run in the top of the third, trailing Voodoo 2-1. Voodoo stretched their lead to 4-1 after they scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Both teams would register two runs in the fifth inning, Voodoo leading 6-3. The game would end after five innings, Voodoo victorious via time limit 6-3. Voodoo’s Laurel Field (2024) led the team at the plate, going 2-2 with one RBI and one run scored in the team’s winning effort.

Game three of the day saw CT Thunder take on New England Elite “DiMauro”. CT Thunder started well, leading the game off with a run in the top of the first. New England Elite would go on a tear, scoring six unanswered runs, two in the first, one in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth to take a 6-1 lead after four innings. That score would hold, and the game would end with New England Elite on top 6-1 in seven innings. New England Elite’s Kennedy Kimball (2025) had a stellar game on both sides. At the plate she went 2-3 with a double and a team leading three RBI. In the circle, Kimball threw the complete game seven innings, allowed just three hits, one run and two walks while fanning 12 batters.

My day with softball ended after this game as I went across for the 13/14u division baseball championship game at Dodd Stadium.

Day 3, Monday

For Championship Day, I was back at Trinity College and we started with the 16u title game. This saw the talented teams of New England Elite “DiMauro” and RI Thunder Gold ’07 face off for the first ever Firecracker Sports softball championship. New England Elite started on the right foot as they scored one run in the top of the first for the early 1-0 lead. RI Thunder would level things up as they scored one run in the fourth inning, game tied 1-1. Action kicked off in the sixth inning when New England Elite tallied five runs in the top half and RI Thunder registered two in the bottom, New England Elite winning 6-3. Neither team scored in the seventh inning and New England Elite “DiMauro” would claim the 16u division title in the 2021 Columbus Day Bash. Emma Boulette (2026) brought in three runs for New England Elite as she went 1-3 with a triple. Kennedy Kimball (2025) got the win in the final game as she threw a seven inning compete game conceding seven hits, three runs, two earned runs and retiring seven batters. Kimball was awarded the 16u division MVP and also was named to the All-Tournament team due to her stellar weekend of pitching where she threw 21 innings allowing three earned runs, 13 hits and walking seven while striking out a whopping 31 batters.

The 18u division title game pined two New England Elite Teams against each other; New England Elite “Demmons” and New England Elite “Wilcox.” “Demmons” started the hotter of the two, taking the first lead after scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. They expanded their lead over “Wilcox” with a further four runs in the second and one run in the third to take an 8-0 lead after three innings. “Wilcox” clawed one run back in the fourth inning and both teams had a big fifth inning with four runs a piece, “Demmons” leading 12-5. “Wilcox” tallied on run in the sixth and one in the seventh, but it was too little too late and “Demmons” would win the 18u division title game by a final score of 12-7. Angelina Pizzella led the line for “Demmons” with three RBI in the championship game as she went 2-4 with a double. Teammate Brooke Gerry (2024) capped off a stellar weekend with another top performance, she threw four and two thirds innings, allowing five hits, four runs while striking out nine. At the plate Gerry was 3-5 with three runs scored and one stolen base. Brooke was awarded the 18u division MVP and named to the All-Tournament team after an incredible weekend where she went 9-15 (.600 average), two RBI, 12 runs and five stolen bases.

2021 Columbus Day Bash – All-Tournament Team

After consulting with the field supervisors and office of player development, the following players have been selected for the 2021 Columbus Day Bash All-Tournament Softball Team.

Pitcher – Kennedy Kimball (2025) – New England Elite “DiMauro”

Catcher – Lily Riggin (2025) – RI Thunder Gold ‘07

First Base – Arianna Kedersha (2024) – CT Impact 18u

Second Base – Marissa Miller (2025) – CT Impact 14u

Third Base – Diana Hall (2025) – RI Thunder Gold ‘07

Shortstop – Paige Ouellette (2022) – Granite State Elite 18u

Left Field – Brooke Gerry (2024) – New England Elite “Demmons”

Center Field – Emily Balducci (2024) – Team Steel Elite 16u

Right Field – Grace Wallace (2023) – New England Elite “Demmons”

Recap

Firecracker Sports was so elated to have a full tournament event run through to completion after the heartbreak of fourth of July. We thank the parents, players and coaches for making the event so special. We know none of this is possible without your support. We also want to thank the field crews that provided us with some top-quality venues to host the stellar talent. We sincerely hope every participant, supporter and coach enjoyed their weekend and we hope to see as many of you as possible next year again!

Up Next

This was the final tournament of the 2021 season. We are so excited for what 2022 brings and hope to see a lot of familiar faces out on the fields!