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.