East Lyme/Salem forces a winner-take-all game in Little League softball championship series

Stonington — East Lyme/Salem, knocked to the losers’ bracket the last time it faced neighboring Waterford in the District 10 Little League softball tournament (ages 10-12), had to remain patient and steady to get back to the championship round.

Just the way 11-year-old Bea Aldana pitched Wednesday night in the rematch.

Aldana — her first name is pronounced Bay-a — pitched a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts and added an RBI single as East Lyme/Salem topped Waterford 4-0 in the championship round at Stonington Little League.

That forced a winner-take-all game between the same two teams at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, also at Stonington.

Waterford defeated East Lyme/Salem 4-3 in extra innings Sunday in the first game of the elimination round, with the same two pitchers getting the start again Wednesday as Aldana matched up with Waterford’s Reese Firmin.

East Lyme/Salem has gone 3-0 since the loss.

“We saw the determination immediately after the loss,” East Lyme/Salem manager Don Wallace said. “They came together and were convinced that they were going to be here, they were going to be in this exact position. ... This is a team that’s been playing largely together for a number of years, so they pick each other up.”

Waterford advanced to the championship round with a 15-1 win over Montville on Monday. East Lyme/Salem, meanwhile, defeated Stonington 6-3 Monday then shut out Montville 10-0 Tuesday to reach the final round.

“It’s hard work,” Aldana said of proceeding through the losers’ bracket. “You just really have to persevere through it. ... We were very, very happy (to get to the championship round). I wasn’t very nervous. I just had fun with it. Just play.”

The game was scoreless until East Lyme/Salem took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Clara Dueker dunked a single to left field and Amelia Conlin drew a two-out walk to get back to Aldana at the top of the lineup. Aldana responded by ripping an RBI single past third base. She took second on Waterford’s throw home and later scored on an error.

Emma Knowlton walked and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth to make it 3-0 and Dueker’s RBI single in the fourth scored Natalie Berg, who walked, with an insurance run.

Kennley Stoddard had Waterford’s only hit, an infield single in the second. Firmin pitched a four-hitter for Waterford with seven strikeouts.

“The girls’ approach at the plate, the way they were making contact, working the counts, we felt like they were going to break out and they were going to squeak through,” Wallace said. “Our lineup is top to bottom ... not everyone is going to hit rockets, but we have hitters that will work counts, get walks. Everyone will make contact.

“I love this team, just bringing both towns together.”

Wallace said that Aldana, one of three aces on the team along with Mikaela Richter and Jessica Wallace, has the ability to remain unfazed when she plays.

“That is a special quality that she brings, that calm demeanor,” Wallace said. “Regardless of which way it’s going, whether it’s pitching or hitting, she remains calm, she remains the same person.”

Round two in the championship series will decide which team goes to the Connecticut Section 3 tournament beginning July 5 in Guilford.

Said Aldana: “We’re just going to really cheer, pump it up and just have a fun time.”

v.fulkerson@theday.com