Lauren Czerwinski was pitcher Elizabeth Mitchell's catcher when they were 12 years old and led their summer recreation league softball team to a championship. They've stayed in touch but play on different travel teams and for different high schools with Mitchell at Coventry and Czerwinski at Tolland.
But there will be a reunion next year. Mitchell and Czerwinski signed letters of intent last month to continue their academic and softball careers at Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, N.J. as part of a 10-player recruiting class.
"It's kind of crazy that we'll be playing together and maybe even I'll be catching her again," Czerwinski said. "That's what we're hoping happens. It would be really exciting."
Saint Peter's is a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and is coached by Chris Stelma, who will be in his eighth season in the spring. He was the MAAC Coach of the Year after the Peacocks went from two wins in 2021 to 22 wins in 2022. Last spring, they reached the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2002.
Both Czerwinski and Mitchell met Stelma at camps this summer.
"I was doing catching stuff because it was pitchers and catchers early in the day," Czerwinski said. "He recognized me from warmups and said that I had a good approach. So after the camp was over he pulled me aside and asked when my tournaments would be and if I could send him a schedule and I stayed in touch with him. In August he gave me an offer when I was hitting with my dad. I was like, 'He's calling me out of the blue.' He was talking about how I'd be a good fit. I was grateful to get the offer."
Mitchell had been looking at UConn, Bridgeport, and Eastern Connecticut State when Stelma reached out to her.
"I really didn't know much about Saint Peter's," Mitchell said. "I was looking at a few different schools and I went to a camp and met Coach Chris. We started talking and I liked his energy and his personality. I went to another camp in Massachusetts that he was at and he asked me to come to his recruit camp. He offered me a visit so it wasn't until late August that I became interested.
"UConn didn't work out. Eastern and Bridgeport turned out to be not what I was looking for. I found Saint Peter's and I am super-happy with my choice. I'm more of an at-home country girl but I certainly enjoyed the campus. I knew some of the girls in my recruiting class already and I thought it would be a great environment to be in."
Erin Mackin of Canton and Grace Muti of Waterford also signed with Saint Peter's in November.
Czerwinski is a two-time all-Central Connecticut Conference East selection and a three-year captain for the Eagles. As a junior, she hit .471 with 32 hits including seven doubles and three triples with 12 RBIs and 30 runs scored.
"I think I've improved dramatically," Czerwinski said. "I'm always doing something either going to the field, going to the gym, trying to better myself in every way. Every day is a new opportunity to get better. From my freshman year to now, if I looked back at myself I'd be like, 'Wow. There's no way that I'm that same person.' I'm happy with how it's worked out."
Tolland has also seen dramatic improvement since she arrived. The Eagles were 5-13 her freshman year and improved to 13-8 to qualify for the CIAC Class M state tournament her sophomore year. Last year the Eagles finished 16-6 and won the CCC East championship.
The season ended with a nine-inning loss to RHAM in the Class M second round and that's motivation for her senior year. Czerwinski hopes the Eagles will qualify for the CCC and state tournaments again and make deep runs in both.
"Softball is a game of failure but that's what has made me the player I am today," Czerwinski said. "I have learned that you have to be mentally strong to be able to compete in this sport and if you're not you won't be able to compete at the next level. I've learned everything is not perfect and you have to go through change and rough patches. If we have a good bond and good work ethic we'll continue to get better."
Czerwinski, an honor roll student, comes from an athletic family.
Her father, Scott, won two Class S state championships in basketball at Somers High and a Division III national championship in baseball at ECSU. He pitched seven shutout innings in the final win over Montclair State. He is a member of ECSU's Hall of Fame. Her mother, Christy, was a state softball champion at Southington, a two-year captain for ECSU softball and her daughter wears No. 6 at Tolland to honor her.
"They've taught me to stay humble," Czerwinski said. "I get things from both of them but the one who has helped me more through this process is my dad. I'm the one always asking him can we go to the field, can we do this or that. He's always been coaching and I've been the one to tag along. I want to be as successful as he's been."
Mitchell has known nothing but success the last two years.
As a sophomore she led the Patriots to the Class S semifinals before enjoying a dream season as a junior. Coventry won the North Central Connecticut Conference title and then captured its first state championship by defeating Cromwell 3-2 in the Class S final.
She had all the decisions in the Patriots' 24-2 season. In 161 innings she allowed only 75 hits and struck out 238 for her second consecutive 200-strikeout season. Her earned run average was 1.17. At the plate, she hit .405 with a home run -- a walk-off against Rockville All-State pitcher Alexis Real -- and 26 RBIs. She had 32 hits and scored 36 runs. She was named all-NCCC and Class S All-State for the second straight year. The NCCC featured strong pitching that included Mitchell, Real, and Ellington's Camryn Fisher, who committed to Syracuse in October.
"My freshman year was hard with a back injury so I wasn't at all healthy," Mitchell said. "My sophomore year was a learning curve with pitching because it was basically my first season. My junior year I used what I learned my sophomore year and then some. I worked with my catcher more. We all had better communication on the field. We practiced harder.
"This year we have four other seniors and they're fantastic. We're a work in progress. We've got some great freshmen coming in. They'll be helpful in replacing the seniors that graduated."
The honor roll student will need to step up as a leader and she has already proven she can step up on the field. In the Class S semifinal a season ago against Shepaug Valley, she fired a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts as the Patriots reached their first final since 1985 and ended a 10-game losing streak in the semifinal round.
Against Cromwell, she allowed two hits and two runs in the first inning then blanked the Panthers on two hits the rest of the way as Coventry pulled out the win on a two-run inside-the-park home run by Lindsey Harrington. Mitchell struck out eight and tossed a perfect seventh to clinch the title.
She knows Coventry will have a target on its back this spring.
"Last year we were 11-0, 16-0, 17-0 and every single team was coming after us," Mitchell said. "I think we made a few enemies, Cromwell, Shepaug. I'm sure they're angry we ruined their years."
But come September 2024 it will be a new team and new challenge. For Mitchell and Czerwinski, they will have come full circle.
"That would be great and so exciting to pitch to Lauren again," Mitchell said. "It would be amazing to go to Saint Peter's together and win a MAAC championship."
Dec 27, 2023
Carl Adamec joined the Hearst Connecticut Media Group in June 2023 when the company purchased the Journal Inquirer. A graduate of Putnam High in Connecticut and St. John's University in New York, he's been honored by the Connecticut Girls Soccer Coaches Association and Connecticut American Legion baseball program in his time at the JI and was inducted into the United States Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.
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