Law softball hires Leigh Barone as coach after her historic 10-year run at Masuk

Leigh Barone has been hired as the new head coach of Law softball, the school announced Wednesday.

Barone last coached at Masuk, stepping down after the 2025 season in the midst of the most dominant run in CIAC softball history. Masuk won every Class L championship from 2018-25 and went 179-7 in that time.

Barone replaces Melanie Blude, who was not with the team most of last season because she was on administrative leave. Blude coached the team for 19 seasons prior to her departure.

Law finished last season 21-5, losing in extra innings to Cheshire in the SCC championship and in 15 innings to Brookfield in the Class L semifinals.

In her 10 seasons at Masuk, Barone’s teams amassed a 233-27 record and won seven state championships and seven SWC titles. The Panthers broke the state record for most consecutive CIAC softball titles in 2023 with their fifth straight championship.

Barone was named CHSCA Coach of the Year in both 2018 and 2024, GametimeCT Coach of the Year in 2018, and 2024 Connecticut Sports Media Alliance’s Doc McInerney Female Coach of the Year. She was also named the first GametimeCT Coach of the Year for Girls Sports at the inaugural awards show.

At Masuk, she coached 18 student-athletes who continued their playing careers at the collegiate level, including Kat Gallant, who was named GametimeCT Softball Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022, and Julia Bacoulis, who won the award in 2024.

Barone works as a Spanish teacher at Jockey Hollow Middle School in Monroe.

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This article originally published at Law softball hires Leigh Barone as coach after her historic 10-year run at Masuk.