Stonington — Of all things, it was a talk the Stonington High School softball team had the day before which the players took to heart.

"This was the first game we all came together," Stonington pitcher Trinity Lennon said. "We talked together. We have something special here. We knew we have the talent. We knew this needed to be done today."

In what coach Ann-Marie Houle deemed her team's best overall effort of the season, certainly its most crisp defensively, Stonington came out strong from the first inning and took advantage of a multitude of Waterford errors to beat the Lancers 7-1 and capture the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division title.

Both teams were 8-1 in the Medium Division headed into Thursday's game, which also doubled as the teams' "Play4theCure" outing, featuring a heartfelt pregame ceremony. Waterford tied Griswold for last year's division championship.

"We took a picture of the (ECC championship) banner in the gym and we mass produced it," said Houle, who hung the picture of the banner listing the Bears' previous titles in the dugout during Wednesday's practice. "We've been trying to talk to them about what has to motivate you is playing good.

"'How do you want to be remembered?' They were really inspired by it. They take pride in that."

Stonington's Mallory Kane and Abby Blanchard started the bottom of the first by reaching base on bunts and the pair came around on an RBI single by Cameron Dreher.

Waterford made it 2-1 in the third on an RBI single by Shea Spellman, but Stonington scored three more in the fourth in what should have been a 1-2-3 inning but which instead yielded four Waterford errors.

The Bears (15-4) finished with two in the fifth on a leadoff double ripped down the left field line by Blanchard, a sacrifice fly by Abby Flakus, a single by Brooke Arruda and two more errors for Waterford (13-6). None of Stonington's runs were earned against Waterford pitcher Kazi Walker.

For Stonington, though, Lennon pitched a five-hitter and the defense was perfect behind her, accounting for a pair of 1-2-3 innings.

"Waterford has a great lineup, but once I step on the field, I just have adrenaline," said Lennon, a sophomore. "My job isn't to strike them out. My job is to get them to pop up or ground out. ... It feels good. (Losing the division title) last year made us come back hungrier. All the sophomores, freshmen, we wanted to get that feeling."

Houle said her team is trying to find ways to manufacture runs by just putting the ball in play, whether it be through bunting or swinging away.

"And let the chips fall," Houle said. "Will (the opponents' defense) do it 90 percent of the time? Of course they will. But give yourselves a chance."

Blanchard had two hits for Stonington and scored two runs. Rhianna Maynard also scored twice.

"It's been our downfall this year," Waterford coach Andy Walker said of the Lancers' defense. "We have to learn to stop the bleeding. I thought we had been playing good defensively in this little run. ... Today, (Lennon) pitched great and (Stonington) made the plays."

v.fulkerson@theday.com