REDDING — She was spotted a four-run lead before she even threw a single pitch, and Brookfield High ace hurler Alyssa Lionetti made sure not to let that lead slip away.

Lionetti scattered six hits and four walks while striking out five as Brookfield topped Barlow 16-5 in a softball clash between South-West Conference contenders.

The Brookfield bats, meanwhile, were unstoppable.

The Bobcats pounded 21 hits and scored in every inning but one to make Lionetti’s life that much easier.

“Whenever we score first, it’s always a complete game-changer,” Lionetti said.

Brookfield (16-2, 10-1 SWC) is on a roll, having won four straight since dropping a 10-inning heart-breaker at Newtown last Wednesday.

“They played four games this week, and they played very well all week,” Brookfield coach Nick Castellano said. “They’re just a good bunch of kids. The team is getting set for the playoffs. They’re almost there, they have a little more work to do, and we’ll see how we do.”

Barlow (14-4, 8-3 SWC), likewise, had won four straight since dropping a 1-0 decision to undefeated Masuk last Wednesday.

“If somebody had told me that 18 games in we’d be 14-4, I would have taken it,” Barlow coach Craig Sears said. “Today was tough. We just can’t play that type of game. That’s not who we are. We’re pitching, defense, timely hitting, and we let it spiral out of control. But Brookfield had a ton to do with that. They just tore the cover off the ball.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Brookfield cleanup hitter Cara Lennon had two doubles and two singles and drove in five runs. Bobcats leadoff hitter Avery Katz reached base four times on three singles and a walk, and she scored all four times. Catcher Laila Cofone had four singles, scored four runs and drove in two. Emily Parchinski had two singles, scored three runs and drove in four. Ally Fitzgerald belted a solo home run and added a single, and Lionetti, Mia Ballard and Kailee Snyder each added two singles, with Snyder adding a walk and driving in a run.

“The lineup is very strong, and today they played very well,” Castellano said. “Their situational hitting was very good.”

For Barlow, Scotland Davis smacked a two-run single and Claire McCann drove in a run with a single and walked twice. Sabrina Lalor had two singles, a walk, an RBI and three runs, and Taylor Macchia had two singles and an RBI.

WHO’S NEXT

Brookfield will have the weekend to prepare for its showdown with unbeaten Masuk, the reigning conference champion, set for 4:15 Monday at Brookfield High.

“We just want to keep playing how we’ve been and just keep up the positive mentality,” Lionetti said. “We don’t want to count ourselves out before we even play because we didn’t think we’d even come this far now. I think we’re pretty confident right now, and we’re ready to play anybody.”

The Bobcats are then scheduled to finish the regular season at Weston on Tuesday.

Barlow will look to regroup over the weekend before traveling to Bunnell on Monday and Notre Dame of Fairfield on Tuesday to finish the regular season.

rgregory

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Twitter @DanburySports

BROOKFIELD 16, BARLOW 5

BROOKFIELD414 024 1 — 16 21 2

BARLOW210 010 1 — 5 6 4

Records: Brookfield 16-2, 10-1 SWC; Barlow 14-4, 8-3 SWC. Batteries: Bk—Alyssa Lionetti (W) and Laila Cofone; Ba—Catie Colangelo (L), Claire McCann (3) and Rebecca Mauro.