By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
MONTPELIER (May 6, 2026) — There are three phases of softball called offense, defense and pitching.
Hilltop was excessively adept at all three as the Cadets rolled to a five-inning, 11-0 win over Montpelier.
“The girls played really well,” Hilltop coach Tom Schaper said. “I knew Montpelier wasn’t going to be easy, they always come out and compete. The girls really stepped up. They wanted to prove that they deserved to be the BBC champion this season.”
The Cadets jumped on top right away in the first inning against the Locos’ Cianna Shoup. Halle Jones led off with a triple and was chased home on Kenley Routt’s single. That run was all pitcher Kelsy Connolly would need.
The Cadets’ hurler scattered five Loco hits in the game. Montpelier got two of those hits in the first. Maggie Jacob led off with a single and two batters later Neriah Thorp rapped a base hit.
The problem for the Locos was that in between, the Cadet defense turned a double play to put a damper on the Montpelier (10-8) rally.
Hilltop (15-2) played long ball in the second to widen their advantage.
Maggie Altman and Sophia Crossgrove went back-to-back jacks starting the inning, then later Brooklyn Kuszmaul hit an RBI double to expand the Cadet bulge to 6-0.
Hilltop tacked on five more tallies in the fourth. Connolly’s two-RBI single and Altman’s run-scoring double were the big blows in the inning.
Meanwhile, Connolly was in control on the hill, not walking a batter.
Montpelier did get two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth when Ashlyn Harter reached on an error and Rowan Brown singled with one down.
Again, the Cadet defense backed up Connolly with a 4-6-3 game-ending double play on Jacob’s grounder.
HHS 240 50 – 11 13 1
MHS 000 00 – 0 5 4
WP- Kelsy Connolly (IP-5, R-0, H-5, K-3, BB-0)
LP- Cianna Shoup (IP-3, R-6, H-9, K-0, BB-1)
LEADING HITTERS: (Hilltop) Halle Jones – triple, 2 singles; Kelsy Connolly – single, double, 3 RBIs; Brooklyn Kuszmaul – double, RBI; Maggie Altman – home run, double, 2 singles, 2 RBIs; Sophia Crossgrove – home run; (Montpelier) Rowan Brown – 2 singles.
