By Michael Letendre
WEST HAVEN – The Bristol Eastern softball team absolutely left it all on the diamond this spring, endings its amazing postseason run in the semifinal round of the Class L bracket on Monday in West Haven.
And it took the best squad in the state of Connecticut to finally topple the Kingstreeters.
No. 1 Masuk had one heck of a time trying to sort out the Lancers and it wasn’t until deep into the showdown before the Panthers finally managed to skirt free.
In fact, it took the Panthers five innings to finally score against the No. 21 ranked Lancers as the locals fell by a 3-0 final from Biondi Field in West Haven to end a truly remarkable run.
The Lancers finished the campaign with a more than credible 13-11 ledger and a 3-1 mark over postseason play.
“From 10-10, number twenty-one in [the] Class L bracket, no individual awards given to any of our players, to going toe to toe with one of the best teams in the state and leaving it all on the field, what else can a coach ask for?” said Eastern coach Tyler Catlin via Twitter. “[I’m] super proud of this group and this run!”
Masuk is going for its fourth consecutive state championship as the program enters the Class L title game at 25-1 overall.
The squad from Monroe will square off against No. 7 Waterford – an 8-0 victor against No. 6 Avon that very same evening.
The Lancers generated just two hits against the Panthers though Eastern chucker Ali Tellier did all she could to keep things close over the seven inning war.
Janessa Gonzalez and Jazmyn Browne each tallied hits against Masuk’s Kat Gallant, one of the state’s best pitchers who was dominant from start to finish.
Gallant tallied a double figure strikeout tally though four frames of action, scooping up 12 strikeouts overall, and shutdown the Eastern offense until midway through the contest.
But the Panthers needed all of those Ks because it was still a scoreless game through four completed innings with Tellier cruising on the flip side.
In the fifth, Masuk staged a furious two-out rally to finally seize control of the showdown.
The Panthers’ Ava Moretti walked with two gone in the fifth and then Natalie Lieto, one of Masuk’s power hitters, belted a two-run homer to centerfield – tallying the game winning hit – as the squad from Monroe led 2-0 through five completed frames.
But the Lancers made a late response to nearly square up the game.
Eastern put two on in the top of the sixth as Makayla Antunes drew a base-on-balls and Browne smacked out a hit as the go-ahead run was at the dish.
But the Lancers just couldn’t generate that run scoring hit to put pressure on Masuk as the No. 21 seed still trailed 2-0 midway through the sixth.
The top seeded program added another run to the till in the sixth when Isabel Viglione scored on an error and through six innings, Masuk led 3-0 – eventually roping up the victory to get to the championship round.
While the Kingstreeters never tallied a run on the scoreboard, the Lancers had a great postseason run – ending the playoffs on a neutral site after three tough road games (I think the softball program from BE has officially run out of gas money just at the right time).
It was the final contest for Eastern’s senior core of Grace D’Amato, Sam Policki, Ali Tellier, Janessa Gonzalez, Alex Shorette, and Sarah Snedeker.
That senior crew wrangled up a total of 27 victories over the past two seasons under the tutelage of Catlin and previous coach, Scott ‘Redeye’ Redman.
Bristol Eastern Softball – Class L Semifinal
No. 1 MASUK 3, No. 21 BRISTOL EASTERN 0
from Biondi Field, West Haven High School
Bristol Eastern (13-11) 000 000 – 0 2 1
Masuk (25-1) 000 021 x – 3 4 0
WP – Kat Gallant (Masuk); LP – Ali Tellier (Bristol Eastern)
Records: Bristol Eastern 13-11; Masuk 25-1
***
CLASS L – Semifinal Scores
from Monday, June 6
No. 1 Masuk 3, No. 21 Bristol Eastern 0
No. 7 Waterford 8, No. 6 Avon 0
***
Bristol Eastern’s road to the semifinals was not an easy one but it was an impressive jaunt none-the-less. Here’s the path the Kingstreeters took to get to the finals:
Class L – First Round
No. 21 Bristol Eastern 5, Brookfield 2
Class L – Second Round
No. 21 Bristol Eastern 5, No. 5 Jonathan Law 4
Class L – Quarterfinals
No. 21 Bristol Eastern 9, No. 4 East Haven 7
Class L – Semifinals
No. 1 Masuk 3, No. 21 Bristol Eastern 0
