Yesenia Evaristo, AKA Coach Sen, has been named the new head coach at Mitchell College. 

A former pitching coach at Eastern Connecticut State University, Coach Sen is ready to take her over her own program and she is looking to grow Mitchell into one of the state's top Division 3 programs.

Before heading out to the recruiting trail, which included a weekend trip to a Showcase event in Taunton, Mass., Evaristo, a graduate of Bethel High School and Southern Connecticut State University, took the time to join The Inside Corner Podcast.

It's been two years since Elizabeth Mitchell pitched and hit Coventry High School to the state championship.

She certainly hasn't rested on her laurels since then.

For two years, Mitchell has pitched at Eastern Connecticut State University, leading the Warriors through the Little East Conference where she was not just 2025's LEC Rookie of the Year, but also this past spring's LEC Pitcher of the Year, as well.

So what is she doing in the transfer portal? Well, we'll let Mitchell tell you.

When Francesca Colangelo injured her knee at the start of the senior season at Lauralton Hall in Milford, she feared the worst.

One last year playing with her friends and schoolmates was certainly gone, but what about the rest, especially her future at Tufts University.

Thanks to a skillful surgeon, a caring coaching staff, and the heart, head and perseverance inside her own body, Colangelo returned to the field in time for her first season and she thrived.

In this week's edition of The Inside Corner Podcast, Franny talks about her injury, losing her senior year of high school and how overcoming it all made her not just a better pitcher, but a better person, as well.

The Bristol Little League Softball 12-year-old All-Stars have been successful at each and every level they've played since coming together a few years ago.

Last year, as 11-year-olds, the team not only won the Connecticut State Championship, but they also went onto the win the Northeast Regional tournament, as well.

This season, playing their final season together as Little Leaguers, Bristol won the District 5 championship and the Section 1 championship, leaving them as one of four teams playing in the Connecticut State Tournament's final four starting Monday in Waterford.

The best part? It's about a lot more than just softball for this group.

Former Masuk pitching sensation Julia Bacoulis, who helped the Panthers win four of their seven straight state titles before the 2026 season, has announced she is transferring to the University of Kentucky this fall.

After leaving Masuk, Bacoulis attended Florida Gulf Coast University, but a coaching change after her commitment just didn't feel right to her during her freshman year in Florida, so Bacoulis entered the transfer portal and found a new home in the SEC.

Bacoulis talked to The Inside Corner Podcast about the transfer, about her first season in college, about her four years at Masuk and more.

Today we drop a very special edition of The Inside Corner Podcast.

With the high school season winding down, we are joined once again by Fairfield Ludlowe coach Adam Laliberte and Stratford/West Haven-Notre Dame coach Gary Sherrick as we preview all four of Saturday's state championship games.

The action begins on Saturday at 10 a.m., at UConn's Burrill Family Field in Storrs and runs all day with the last game slated for 7 p.m.

Following the 2026 college softball season, longtime Eastern Connecticut State University softball coach Diana Pepin announced her retirement.

Serving as the program's sixth permanent head coach from 2002 through 2026, Pepin coached 969 games, winning 611, losing 355 and tying three for a winning percentage of .632. The Willimantic native and 1992 Eastern graduate served as head coach for half of the program's seasons, coached 51.2 percent of its 1,893 games and recorded 49.9 percent of its 1,224 victories.

Pepin took some time out to talk to the CT Softball Blog's The Inside Corner podcast about her career as well as her future and the future of her chosen sport.

Last week, the Enfield Eagles stunned much of the state when it advanced to the CCC championship game and knocked off state power Southington, a Top-10 team in both the CT Softball Blog and GametimeCT Media Poll.

It was the first time in Enfield Coach Andrea Silva's coaching career that the Eagles had beaten Southington. Coach Silva joins us along with captains Claire Bouffard and Paige Cekala to talk about the 2026 season, the run to the league championship and the state tournament, where Enfield is the No. 3 seed.

The Nonnewaug Chiefs are once again flying under the radar, through an 18-2 season that left them as the No. 1 seeded team in the CIAC Class M ranks; a spot they should remain for the upcoming state tournament.

Yes, the Chiefs play in a league that doesn't garner the respect of some around CT's softball circles, but with a tough non-conference schedule, Nonnewaug has done all it can this season to work hard, get better and prove the naysayers wrong.

This week, Coach Chris Martin and his five captains sat down with The Inside Corner Podcast to talk about the season and the upcoming state tournament.

Woodland Regional head coach Loren Luddy and four of her captains join us to talk about the program reaching the 400-win milestone while also talking about the upcoming NVL and state tournaments, as well.

Sunday is Mother's Day, but we at the CT Softball Blog want to get a jump on the celebration so we are posting a very special Mother's Day Podcast today.

First we chat with Wesleyan University head softball coach Jen Lane. She doesn't just coach the Cardinals, you know? She also runs her own travel program—the Middletown-based CT Monarchs—and she is a mom of three, including two softball-playing daughters.

We also added a second segment, a Mother's Day round table if you will, featuring Colleen Hernandez (her daughter Natalia is a 12U travel player); Allison Cunningham (her daughter Mia is a junior shortstop at Seymour High); and Beth Pearsall-Palmer (her daughter Cat is wrapping up her career at Wesleyan). The three share stories, concerns and advice of being a softball mom at all three levels.

The Bristol Central Rams dropped their first game of the season and then went on a tear, winning 11 games in a row to improve to 11-1 on the season.

First year head coach Jeff Linsky and two of his captains—Lily VanNorstrand and Haley Powers—join us to talk about the season and changes that have happened over the past season.

Two years after its legendary head coach retired, the Seymour Softball team remains one of the top programs in both the Naugatuck Valley League as well as the Class M ranks.

At the mid-way point of the 2026 season, Seymour is 10-0 heading into a big part of its schedule.

In this edition of The Inside Corner Podcast, Seymour head coach Samantha Rossetti joins us along with seniors Cassidy Marcinczyk and Julianna Raucci and junior Daphne Shea to talk about the Wildcats and their start.

Rachele Fico is one of the most accomplished athletes in Connecticut softball history, a Masuk High School legend whose dominance bordered on myth: 105 career wins, a 0.07 ERA, 1,884 strikeouts, and a national-record 26 perfect games. A two-time Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, she went on to star at LSU, where she became a two-time NFCA First Team All-American, the 2010 SEC Freshman of the Year, and finished her career with 797 strikeouts and 78 wins.  Now honored with a Connecticut Sports Media Alliance Gold Key Award, Fico’s legacy reaches beyond numbers, spanning elite performance, coaching, and a lasting impact on the game in Connecticut and beyond.

Three years ago, when Avon High School center fielder Eve Beloin was a freshman, the Falcons didn't win a single game. Not one.

They oh-for'd the entire season.

Last year, during Beloin's junior campaign, Avon was 15-5 during the regular season, losing in both the first round of the CCC tournament and the state tournament.

Only three seniors graduated from that squad, however.

This spring Avon has raced out to an 8-0 start on the season, qualifying for the state tournament once again while out-scoring opponents at a 115-32 clip thus far.

And Beloin is the only senior on the squad that has high hopes for the rest of the spring season.

Beloin, who is headed to Hamilton to play in the fall, and Avon head coach Mike Mihalek joined The Inside Corner Podcast on Tuesday to talk about the Falcons hot start, the influx of the freshmen and sophomores who have helped spark this resurgence and the future.

This week, we caught up with the Lewis Mills Spartans.

The squad was spending its spring break vacation week down in Florida, where on Tuesday they defeated Newington to improve to 5-0 on the season.

Following a trip to the Universal Theme Park, we had a late-night chat with head coach Chris Sawyer and senior captains Anna Henry, Jillian Tiso, Michaela LaRose, and Brooke Martineau.

This is one of those teams you can't fall asleep on and after a great start to the 2026 season it'll be fun to see if the Spartans can meet all their goals this coming season.

Chris Carrara never imagined himself coaching softball, but at this early stage in his career he is sure glad he found his way to the field. 

An assistant coach at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, and head coach of a CT Impact 14U team, Carrara is growing in leaps and bounds, and has some lofty goals laid out before him.

As he finishes up his degree at Sacred Heart University, he's also become a podcaster as the host of The Everyday Athlete on Youtube.

Hear Chris tell his story of how became a coach and podcast and where he hopes to head in the future.

One of the best kept secrets in Connecticut high school softball might be the North Branford Thunderbirds.

Over the past five seasons, the Thunderbirds have posted a 112-18 record with multiple Shoreline League championships and three appearances in the Class S state championship.

Last spring, North Branford won its first state title in school history, edging St. Paul's Catholic 4-2 in the final.

Head coach Nick DeLizio, captain Lauren Vitarisi and senior Ava Ryszczyk, the MVP of last year's state title tilt, join us to chat about the team and the upcoming season.

If you're going to make an argument for the deepest and most talented league in the state it could very well be the Southern Connecticut Conference—AKA the SCC!

Last season, SCC schools won two state championships as Cheshire took top honors in Class LL while the Foran Lions won 28 straight games to take the league title as well as the Class M state championship, as well.

In our third league preview of the new high school season, you will hear from Jonathan Law head coach Melanie Blude to chat about an overview of the league (as well as her own Lawmen).

During our players' segment, you will here from a trio of Cheshire Rams—Jordan McCue, Jenica Matos and Molly Fleming—and they will talk about their team and their league.

We will then wrap things up with the head coach of the defending SCC and State Class M champs, Foran Lions boss Gina Georgetti.

Last spring, the 2025 FCIAC season ended in spectacular fashion with the St. Joseph Cadets edging Darien in 14 innings to claim the league tournament championship.

Both starting pitchers—Katie Dzialo of St. Joseph and Vivian Knott of Darien—return from that game, but don't think both are guaranteed a repeat appearance this spring.

In fact, the two other semifinalists that St. Joe's and Darien defeated—Trumbull and New Canaan—both return their starting pitchers, as well. Maddie Pippa will pace the Eagles once again this season while Lauren Fico and Marissa Delcarmine are both back in the circle for the Rams.

Still, as you will hear, the FCIAC is as deep and as open as ever, according to those in the know.

In this episode, Fairfield Ludlowe head coach Adam Laliberte opens the podcast with a general look at the league and his own Falcons.

In segment two, the two-headed pitching-slash-shortstop duo of Fico and Delcarmine will talks to us to talk about both the league and New Canaan's hopes this season.

Then we close with a chat with Jeff Babineau, the head coach of the defending champ St. Joseph Cadets, to get this thoughts on the 2026 season.

On Friday, we will post the SCC preview.

For the past seven years, the Masuk Panthers have dominated the SWC and Class L ranks.

Seven straight state titles and five of the last six league titles show the depth of the program. This spring, however, the Panthers will be facing a lot of changes with a new starting pitcher in the circle and a new head coach in the dugout.

Is Masuk rebuilding or re-loading? 

That's one of the questions we ask in our special edition of "The Inside Pitch Podcast: The 2026 SWC Preview edition."

We boast three guests today, including Stratford-West Haven co-op head coach Gary Sherrick, who gives us his thoughts on the league overview.

We also catch up with Brookfield senior pitcher Sydney Miller, who beat Masuk in the regular season before falling in the league in the final in an epic 10-inning championship game.

And we close out the podcast with Masuk's first-year head coach Emily Woznick, who talks about taking over a program that has a very big target on its back.

University of New Haven softball coach Kelly Paterson talks about her program making the jump to the Division 1 level.

Kingswood Oxford softball coach Jay Bradley and captains Olivia Doran and Alexis Nisyrios talk about the Wyverns program and more.

Albertus Magnus College head coach Lou Bunosso burst onto the state's softball scene when he turned the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons into an FCIAC power, one that would win multiple league and state championships. Now, the coach is doing it with a new set of Falcons at the college level. 

The CT Softball Blog chats with Ben Purcell and Dom Dauria of the Federation Softball Umpires of Greater New Haven about rules changes and points of emphasis for the upcoming high school season.

After leading their senior-less team to the FCIAC semifinals a year ago, four Trumbull High School seniors—Kylie Lucia, Maren Jones, Madison Pippa and Brianna Potok—will be taking their talents to college after chasing this spring's dream of winning a league championship.

Producer and host Rob Adams and CT Softball Blog Publisher John Nash introduce "THE INSIDE CORNER: The CT Softball Blog Podcast" to listeners.