By JOHN NASH

johnnash@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON — The positive feeling the Wilton High School softball team entered the season with grew three-fold over the first week as the Warriors ripped off victory after victory after victory.

In fact, the 3-0 start to the season was the best start in the team's history.

One way the Warriors have shined this spring, though, was performing in the clutch.

Katie Wingertzahn's bases-loaded double in the seventh helped beat Bethel, 3-1, in the season-opening game and then Christy Ketley helped kick start another late-inning rally as the Warriors beat Danbury, 2-0.

That game was scoreless through eight innings when Ketley's infield hit plated Steph Boyles and Stacy Pokora later added anothe RBI single.

The Warriors followed those two games with a 6-3 victory over New Canaan on Monday. Wilton piled up 11 hits in that win, including three by Fricke and two each by Bray Deppen and Pokora.

Not even a 1-0, last-inning loss to Darien on Wednesday was going to get these girls down.

"I don't worry about winning and losing so much as I worry about us playing better tomorrow than we did today," said Cunningham. "But we've had some good wins and in the past we might have lost those games."

A big change in Wilton this year, according to Cunningham, is how the team doesn't get down after a mistake is made.

In the opener, he pointed out that a Bethel runner tried to take advantage of a Wilton error by scoring on the play, only to be gunned down by an outfielder.

Against Danbury, a pair of would-be, go-ahead runs were gunned down trying to steal.

And, likewise, against New Canaan when the Rams were trying to rally and take an extra base on an overthrow, Wingertzahn — backing up the play from right field — threw the runner out at second base.

"I'm not saying we're not going to make an error, but we find a way to bounce back," said Cunningham. "Those are the things that make a great team. We're not going to hang out heads after making a mistake because somebody else is going to pick us up."

And in the circle, Wilton's pitcher, Kat Poulos, has been, well, Kat Poulos throwing hard, throwing strikes, and keeping the Warriors in games.

"We're a together bunch and we're getting it from a bunch of different places, which is good, too," said Cunningham.

The Warriors finally lost their first game of the year at Darien on Wednesday.

An RBI double by the Waves' Olivia Begelante, into the left center field gap, plated Rielly Horan, who reached on an infield error, with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Blue Wave over the Warriors (3-1 overall, 2-1 FCIAC).

The loss spoiled a solid outing by pitcher Poulos (3-1), who pitched five perfect innings to start the game and retired the first 16 batters she faced. Darien's first hit was by a bunt in the sixth inning.

Poulos allowed just two hits and struck out six with no walks. Her counterpart, Christina DeMaio pitched a five-hit shutout with one strikeout and no walks.

Wilton's Deppen had a double.

The Warriors hosted Harding on Friday and over the course of vacation week they will play Stamford at home on Monday (4:15 p.m.), Notre Dame of Fairfield at home on Tuesday (4 p.m.), at Norwalk on Wednesday (11 a.m.), and at Fairfield-Ludlowe on Friday (noon).