By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Central and Hall softball teams took the field in a tremendous CCC Interdivisional bout on a blustery Thursday evening and the crowd that braved the wind and cold saw one heck of a pitcher’s duel.
Hall’s Sophie Garner-MacKinnon and Central’s Alex Sciarretto threw light’s out as the duo combined for 29 strikeouts.
That meant hits were at a premium while mistakes would be magnified tenfold.
And that’s what happened as the teams exchanged sixth inning mistakes, leading to a 1-1 stalemate and then in the seventh, the Warriors were able to scratch across one additional run as Hall snuck out of Bristol with a 2-1 win – improving to 8-1 overall.
Central fell to 7-2, losing those two games by a combined two runs.
Both teams committed a couple errors and each of the top-tier programs made gains off those miscues.
“In a close game like this, the littlest mistakes are going to be exasperated and impact the game much more than in a 10-2 game,” said Central coach Monica Hayes. “And that’s exactly what happened to us. Unfortunately, we were on the losing end of that.”
“They had their two [errors] and that’s how we scored our run so we capitalized on that but they [scored] twice. We did it once.”
Garner-MacKinnon was sensational, roping up 18 strikeouts as she fanned 10 of the first 11 batters she faced.
On the flip side, Sciarretto chucked an 11-strikeout, four-hit gem that nearly saw the Rams snare the lead late.
“At times, Alex is unhittable,” said Hayes of Sciarretto. “She gets locked in and she had a lot of velocity. She can jam hitters and when her change-up is working, she keeps a lot of hitters off-balanced.”
Madeline Peterson was 2-of-4 for Hall, snaring the game-winning RBI, while Stephanie Markie went 2-of-3 for the Warriors.
Central’s Kaley Laird had a hit and scored a run, Leah Sklenka and Lorelei Stancavage each tallied a single while Sam Sklenka and Sciarretto each dropped down sacrifice bunts to steer the offense.
Mya Porrini made a slick catch in front of the pitcher to end the third frame, Stancavage was tremendous behind the plate while Sophia Torreso did a good job leading the Central charge defensively.
“Our defense made some plays today to keep us in the game,” said Hayes. “We got out of a couple jams.”
In the bottom of the first, Sciarretto struck out the first two batters she faced but Hall loaded the bases from there.
But Sciarretto fanned Nelson to end the threat.
Central’s bats were silent over the first three innings but in the top of the third, Hall tried to tally its first run.
With one gone, Madeline Peterson singled and Piper Garner-MacKinnon was plunked by a pitch to put two on.
But Sciarretto struck out Tessa Hache and Markie bounced out to the pitcher in the circle and through three, the game was a scoreless stalemate.
Sciarretto silenced the Warriors’ offense in the fourth and fifth tilts while Leah Sklenka singled to lead off the fifth and when Sciarretto bunted her into scoring position, the Rams were one hit away from seizing the lead.
But Garner-MacKinnon struck out Sarah Romano and Porrini as Hall was looking to snare the edge in the top of the sixth inning.
With one out, a ball skied to left field by Hache was misplayed and Markie laid down an infield bunt that Central’s defense did not have a play on.
From there, with runners on second and third, Nelson hit a slow roller to second for an out but pinch-runner Mollie Reynolds scooted home from third as Hall nabbed a 1-0 lead.
Then, in terms of errors, the Warriors returned the favor defensively in the bottom of the sixth.
Laird blasted a one-out single to center and the rally was on.
“We did a better job putting the ball in play the second and third time through the line-up,” said Hayes. “[Garner-MacKinnon] was the most effective pitcher, most efficient pitcher we’ve seen so far this season so I knew it would take us a time or two through the line-up [to get to her].”
Sam Sklenka laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt but the ball was thrown away at first base.
Then as Laird got to third, the ball was chucked away again.
Laird easily scored off the double-error as the game became a 1-1 contest while Sklenka cruised into second base and the go-ahead run was in scoring position.
But Sklenka was thrown out trying to steal third for the second out as Stancavage walked on four balls.
Torreso struck out to end the stanza as the teams went into the seventh and final inning tied at 1-1.
“We got some bunts down and they were rattled there in sixth inning,” said Hayes of Hall. “We were just one hit away. Just one hit.”
To open the seventh tilt, Jacqueline Hamad walked and advanced to second on a groundout.
With two gone, the runner moved to third on a passed ball and when Peterson ran out a ground ball to second, Hamad scored as Hall secured a 2-1 cushion.
To end the showdown, Garner-MacKinnon struck out the Central side as Hall came away with a hard-fought 2-1 win in Bristol.
“They capitalized on our two mistakes, we capitalized on their mistake,” said Hayes. “Other than that, it was a pretty flawless looking game. It was a really good softball game.”
Bristol Central Softball – CCC Interdivisional Showdown
HALL 2, BRISTOL CENTRAL 1
from the softball field at Bristol Central
Hall (8-1) 000 001 1 – 2 4 2
Bristol Central (7-2) 000 001 0 – 1 3 2
WP: Sophie Garner-MacKinnon (Hall); LP: Alex Sciarretto (Bristol Central)
Hall Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Bristol Central Batting
2B – None
3B – None
HR – None
Records: Hall 8-1 overall; Bristol Central 7-2
