By Michael Letendre

SOUTHINGTON – The Bristol Eastern softball team ran up against Southington on Friday afternoon, one of the top programs in the state, and dropped a tough 8-0 decision on the road.

The Knights (12-0) kept their ledger perfect while the Lancers battled but fell for the third straight time (5-6).

Southington roped up just six hits but five went for extra bases.

And the home squad did a tremendous job offensively, scoring on all three of the base-on-balls Eastern pitcher Ali Tellier allowed, along with bunts and two sacrifice flies.

“They scored runs, they hit the ball, they laid the bunts down, they executed their suicide squeeze, and they stole bases,” said Eastern coach Tyler Catlin of Southington. “We made a couple little mistakes that, I think, if we tightened up, it would have been a closer game. But they flat-out won the game.” 

Tellier never gave in, retiring seven batters in the middle of the game, but the Knights seemingly made every at-bat count.

Dominique Gaudio led the Knights with two hits, including a double, while Eastern’s Sam Policki generated the only hit of the contest for the Lancers – beating out an infield single.

Southington pitching, between Sam Sullivan and Stella Blanchard, managed to tally 16 strikeouts and limited Eastern to just three baserunners.

“It seemed like one number pitcher after another” for Southington said Catlin. “They pitched [Sullivan] for five innings for [Blanchard] for two innings.” 

Jazmyn Brown and Janessa Gonzalez each drew walks for Eastern but weren’t able to score.

With one gone in the first, Policki put up a heck of a battle against Sullivan but drew strike three as the Knights eventually retired the side in order.

In the bottom of the tilt, Ashlyn Desaulniers walked and stole second on the first pitch to Elyse Picard.

Tellier buckled down to strikeout Elyse Picard but Desaulniers swiped third and scored on Sam Sullivan’s RBI double – just hitting the yellow portion of the centerfield fence – to make it a 1-0 game.

Sullivan advanced to third on a Samantha Rogers groundout and came home on Dominique Gaudio’s flare to right – making it a 2-0 contest through one.

Sullivan was pushed to two full counts on Gonzalez and Ashley Serafin but the Knights’ chucker struck out the side in the second stanza as the home team maintained its 2-0 push.

Nicole Szuba started the bottom of the second with a deep triple to left and then Grace Browne made a great grab of a liner off the bat of Kaitlynn Griffin – nearly doubling up Szuba at third base as she dove back to the bag but was just a second too late.

However, Szuba ended up scoring on a suicide squeeze Taylor Sullivan as Browne did not have a play on any runner as Southington etched up a 3-0 push.

The Lancers were set down in order in the third as Sullivan went nine up and nine down.

Picard opened the third with a three-base hit and scored on a passed ball, making it a 4-0 game.   

Sarah Sullivan got plunked by a pitch to get on and pinch runner Madelyn Napierski stole second, went to third when the ball got away from the fielder, and scored on a sac fly by Rogers – propelling the Knights to a 5-0 lead.

Alex Shorette and Emily Valentine both made putouts in center and right field, respectively, to end the frame and to open the fourth, the Lancers nearly put a scoring drive together.

Jazmyn Brown walked to break Sullivan’s perfect game while Policki smacked a ball that bounced off the pitcher to the second basemen – arriving to first safely for the squad’s only hit of the showdown.

With one gone, Gonzalez walked to load the bases as Sullivan was jammed up.

But the Southington pitcher struck out the final two batters of the fourth as the Knights maintained its 5-0 cushion.

“We had that inning where we loaded the bases with one out,” said Catlin of the fourth. “We had an opportunity to put up a couple runs. I was really hoping for the morale of the team that we could have gotten a few across there, especially leading up to the Bristol Central game [Friday].”

Tellier and Eastern then had a 1-2-3 fourth inning as Eastern got to the dish quickly in the fifth.

Sullivan buckled down again , fanning two in the fifth to keep the Lancers off the board.

Tellier and the defense had retired seven straight before Rogers drilled a solo home run over the fence in center as Southington secured a 6-0 cushion through five.

Blanchard relieved Sullivan in the circle in the top of the sixth, striking out the side, as Southington added a couple more runs to its till.

With runners on second and third, Kaitlynn Griffin unleashed a sacrifice fly to center, scoring a run, and when the ball got away, Southington scored again and going into the seventh, Eastern trailed 8-0.

The Lancers went down in order to end the seventh as Southington etched up an 8-0 win to remain perfect throughout 12 games.

“This is one of the best teams in the state,” said Catlin of Southington. “[But] I keep telling our team ‘don’t get down because we’re a dangerous team and when we get to the state tournament, nobody’s going to want to face you.’ We’re having a little bit of a lull right now.”

“[But] we’re going to turn the corner soon.”

On Friday, Eastern and Bristol Central tangle for the first time this season at 3:45 p.m. from the softball field at BCHS.

NOTES…In the top of the fourth frame, with two on for Eastern, the game was stopped for the National Anthem which was played to begin the Simsbury/Southington boys lacrosse game across the field…The Eastern fans enjoyed every foul ball that landed in traffic on the first base side of the field – probably hoping for a broken window or a dented hood (or two).That same group would have been extremely happy if a ball had plunked off one of the many port a potties around the area, surprising the occupant inside – using the toilet with the blue liquid…

Bristol Eastern Softball – CCC Interdivisional Showdown  

SOUTHINGTON 8, BRISTOL EASTERN 0

from Southington High School 

Bristol Eastern (5-6) 000 000 0 – 0 1 2

Southington (12-0)          212 012 x – 8 6 0 

WP: Sam Sullivan (Southington); LP: Ali Tellier (Bristol Eastern).

Bristol Eastern Batting 

2B – None

3B – None 

HR – None 

Southington Batting 

2B – Sam Sullivan, Dominique Gaudio 

3B – Elyse Picard, Nicole Szuba  

HR – Sam Rogers

Records: Southington 12-0; Bristol Eastern 5-6