By Michael Letendre
EAST HAVEN – The Bristol Eastern softball squad is making fools out of the rankings in the CIAC Class L division bracket.
The Lancers are rated No. 21 in the fray but are hardly playing like a program that finished the regular season at 10-10.
Maybe CCC softball is better than you think because after upsetting No. 12 Brookfield (5-2) and No. 5 Jonathan Law (5-4) over the first two rounds of state tournament play, did the Kingstreeters have anything left in the tank when the squad battled No. 4 East Haven in a quarterfinal round showdown on Friday?
The answer was a resounding yes as Eastern defeated the Yellowjackets, 9-7, on the road – continuing in the big dance towards a possible state championship date.
“We’re dancing!” said Eastern coach Tyler Catlin via Twitter after the game.
With that victory, the Lancers (13-10) will be playing over the final week of the scholastic season – drawing No. 1 Mask (23-1) in an epic semifinal showdown on either Monday or Tuesday.
Epic is the word to use because through seven innings against East Haven, the game was tied at 7-7 and, once again, Alex Shorette smacked out the game-winning hit.
And the eighth frame proved to be the dagger as Grace D’Amato (two doubles, two RBI) doubled while Emily Valentine was plunked by a pitch and quickly, ducks were on the pond for the ultra-talented Shorette.
And Shorette made the Yellowjackets pay as her single plated two RBI and in a wink of an eye, Eastern led it by two which ended up being the final difference in the encounter.
“Alex Shorette played hero again with two RBI in the top of the eighth to give the Lancers a 9-7 lead,” said Catlin.
The East Haven program (23-3) was ranked fifth in the latest GameTimeCT Top 10 Softball Poll as another top-ranked program bit the dust via the Lancers’ postseason burst.
Eastern’s Gracie Brown added a big hit along the way while Ali Tellier and Ashley Serafin cranked out home runs to make it a 4-0 contest through nearly three innings of action.
And the Yellowjackets were forced to play catch-up the entire afternoon.
Tellier actually booted two homers and collected three RBI while giving East Haven all sorts of problems from the circle.
She collected nine strikeouts but it was a total team effort that earned Eastern another postseason win.
“Hailey Beebe made some clutch plays at second base in her varsity debut,” added Catlin.
And now, standing in the way of a Class L final berth is Masuk – one of the state’s top teams.
On the flip side of the bracket, No. 7 Waterford advanced to the Class L semis with a 6-1 upset over No. 2 Ellington while No. 6 Avon – another member of the CCC – shutout No. 14 Fitch over a 3-0 final.
The Kingstreeters are on the cusp of something very big and the last time Eastern was in this position came back during the 2010 campaign.
Those Lancers went to the Class L title game but fell to Waterford, 3-2, from DeLuca Field in Stratford on June 12.
CLASS L – Quarterfinal Round Scores
Avon 3, Fitch 0
Bristol Eastern 9, East Haven 7 (8)
Masuk 2, St. Joseph 1
Waterford 6, Ellington 1
