The Mirage wishes a Happy Mothers' Day to all of its great mothers for all that you do for your daughters and for your family.

by posted 04/30/2012
 

Congratulations to the Mirage Black 13U for winning the Championship of the Sunrise Cottage Tournament April 29^th in Ridgefield CT. The Mirage girls combined dominant pitching with a relentless offense. They banged out 68 hits and outscored their opponents 55-19 for the weekend. After losing the opening pool play game by a run, the girls went on a 5 game winning streak highlighted by a tough semi final game with the Southington Lightning. The girls then advanced to the final capped by an 11-3 victory over the Lunachicks from NY. Congratulations to the Mirage players as well as the runner-up Lunachicks!
 

Back to top     

by posted 03/19/2012
 

Three Mirage teams won their age divisions in the Fastpitch Nation Winter Indoor League.  The 12U team won the 11-12 age group with a record of 9-1, the 14U team won the 13-14 age group with a record of 8-1-1, and the 15U team won the 15-16 age group with a record of 8-1-1 for a combined record of 25-3-2.  Congratulations to all!

Back to top     

by posted 03/15/2012
 
National Pro Fastpitch held its annual draft on Wednesday night and UMass senior pitcher and former Mirage 23U player Sara Plourde was drafted by the Carolina Diamonds with the ninth overall pick of the draft, which was Carolina's first pick in the 2012 draft. 

Plourde holds a 79-29 career record and a 6-5 record on the season. She currently has 1,242 career strikeouts, which is the second most in UMass history, and is 102 strikeouts away from holding the school record, currently held by former Olympian Danielle Henderson. She led the nation in strikeouts for the past two seasons (2010 and 2011) and is on par to hold the honor again this year with 121 strikeouts.

The Bristol, Conn. native has been named to the NFCA All-American third team two years in a row and earned the title of Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year in both the 2010 and 2011 seasons. She has also been named to the USA Softball National Player of the Year watch list for the 2012 season.

Back to top     

by posted 03/07/2012
 

Mirage 13U earns 2nd Place

The Mirage Black 13U team took 2nd place in thecombined 14U-16U Midnight Madness tournament held at Fastpitch Nation on March3rd and 4th. The girls had pool play wins over the CTTigers and an exciting 4-3 victory in the semi final over the Cheshire Flames.This resulted in the youngest team in the tournament vs. the oldest team theU16 USA Lady Mavericks from New Hampshire.Despite lack of sleep and games played between the hours of 10PM and 8AM bothteams summoned up the energy and focus providing a captivating one run final. Congratulationsto the Lady Mavericks on their 2-1 victory and to the Mirage Girls for bringinghome some hardware in their opening 2012 tournament!
Back to top     

by posted 02/24/2012
 
The Mirage 11U team would like to give a special thanks to CCSU Head Softball Coach Jeff Franquet, “his staff,” CCSU pitcher and Mirage Coach Julie Marks, and the rest of the CCSU Softball Team for conducting a skills clinic.

The Mirage Girls were thrilled to show off their skills and get one on one instruction from Division 1 college softball players in pitching, catching, fielding and hitting. The Mirage girls also enjoyed the opportunity to ask questions of the coaching staff and players.

CCSU will be holding a “Mirage Day” at one of their home games this year for the 11U girls who will be able to join the players as they are introduced onto the field. The Mirage 11U team looks forward to attending many CCSU softball games this year to cheer on the Blue Devils as they look to build on their success from last season, when the CCSU softball team set a school record with 29 wins and made their first trip to the Northeast Conference Softball Championship Tournament.

Click the following link for their schedule. http://www.ccsubluedevils.com/sports/sball/2011-12/schedule

Thank you and good luck Blue Devils!
Back to top     

by posted 02/09/2012
 

Back to top     

by posted 02/06/2012
 
The Mirage 14U 97's finished second in the Coplex Sports Domain tournament in Winsted this weekend.  The Mirage went 2-0-1 on Saturday and gained the finals with an 11-3 semi-final win over the Lady Knights on Sunday.  After falling behind 6-0 in the first three innings in the championship game, the Mirage battled back to tie the game at 6-6 before yielding the lead in the top of the 7th and falling 9-6 to the Southington Lightning.  The Mirage girls should be proud that they played so impressively while competing in seven games in less than 30 hours which included two Saturday night games at FPN.
Back to top     

by posted 01/30/2012
 
The Mirage 14U team won the Midnight Madness tournament held at Fastpitch Nation on January 28th and 29th.  The Mirage swept their four games winning their two pool games 6-2 and 6-3 and then gaining the finals with a 1-0 semi-final victory.  They battled back from a 3-0 1st inning deficit to win the championship game 7-3 against the Fairfield Light.  The team won the tournament winning the four games between 10:00 p.m. and 8:30 a.m.  It was a tired but happy group that finally left the facility around 9:00 a.m. for what was probably a long Sunday nap for all of the players, coaches, and parents. 
Back to top     

by Dave Bornstein posted 12/21/2011
 

On December 18th, 50 players from our 10U - 14U teams participated in the 4th annual Mirage Defensive Organizational Clinic at the Star Hill Dome in Tolland.  Current Mirage coaches and players and former Mirage players covered five instructional stations which included infield, outfield, and throwing skills during the two hour session.  Thanks to all the volunteers who participated in this successful event.  The Mirage will hold its offensive clinic on January 8th when coverage areas will include bunting, base running, agility, and hitting skills.

Back to top     

by posted 12/19/2011
 

Back to top     

by posted 07/29/2011
 

Douglas Mid Summer Slam Champions

Congratulations to Mirage 14U 97's for their impressive win over Central MA Xplosion in the finals to win the Douglas Mid-Summer Slam 2011 Invitational.  This Mirage team, comprised of 13U players, went 6-0 on July 23-24 in Douglas, MA.

Back to top     

by posted 07/27/2011
 

23U National Champions - 3rd consecutive year!

The Mirage 23U (DOWNS/BILODEAU) team captured its 3rd consecutive National Softball Association World Series Championship this past weekend in Leominster, MA with a record of 5-1 over the 2 day event.  For the season, the team outscored their opponents 142 to 41 while compiling a 19 win and 4 loss record .  Over the past nine tournaments that the team has participated in, dating back to the 2009 World Series, they have won 7 of those tournaments which include the 2009, 2010 and 2011 NSA World Series Championships and have a cumulative 50 win and 9 loss record.

Congratulations to the women of Mirage 23U!

Back to top     

by posted 07/08/2011
 

The CT Mirage '96 Black ran the table on the week-end of June 25-26 going 7-0 and marching to the Championship of the 18-team field in the 2011 USSSA Summer Slam in East Hartford. Combining dominant pitching with a thunderous offensive attack, the Black outscored their opponents 66-11 on he weekend, claiming their second championship of the 2011 campaign. Congratulations to the players and a big shout out to the Runner-up Empire State Huskies Black, a most worthy finals opponent. 

Back to top     

by posted 07/07/2011
 

CT Mirage 16U Black goes 5-1 to win the USSSA Summer Slam tournament!

Congratulations to the Mirage 16U Black!  Competing in only their second tournament of the season and coming on the heels of a third place finish in last week's Warwick RI tournament, the 16U Black team were champions of the USSSA Summer Slam Tournament in East Hartford.  
 

The team gave a solid performance on Saturday going 2-1 and earned a three seed going into Sunday.  The girls showed up on Sunday with championship fever and they certainly did not disappoint!  By going 3-0 and outscoring their opponents by a score of 13-2, the girls capped a great weekend of softball with the championship trophy!  Every player contributed to our success and it was truly a GREAT team effort.

Back to top