BE Softball bounces Middletown for second straight victory

By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – After a few close games to start the campaign, the Bristol Eastern softball team was due for a good old fashion blowout.

The Kingstreeters have been putting in the work over its first four games and against Middletown on Wednesday in a CCC South confrontation, it was time to get to the pay window – and collect in a big way.

And the Lancers dropped the Blue Dragons by a 14-0 final from the BE softball field on King Street.

Crooked numbers were the theme of the day for Eastern (3-2) as the home team put runs on the board in all but the third tilt.

“I like the improvements [at the plate with fewer] strikeouts,” said Eastern coach Scott Redman. “It’s the first time we haven’t struck out ten or more times in a game. That was good to see. We put the ball in play, making Middletown make plays. We hit a few balls here and there hard. I would have liked to see it a little more consistently throughout the line-up but we took advantage when they gave us extra outs. We took advantage of some good base-running plays. So overall, I’m happy on that side of the ball.“

Bristol generated two runs in the bottom of the first off only one hit.

Sam Policki reached on a fielder’s choice and scored when Jasmine Perez’s grounder was thrown away at first base.

Perez nabbed second on the error, went to third on a wild pitch and scored via a passed ball to make it a 2-0 game through one completed frame.

Middletown’s Cheyenne Fuoco (2-for-3) led off the second by scorching a single to the gap in left but Eastern pitcher Ali Tellier (two hits, 13 K’s) wasn’t bothered in the least.

She fanned the side, leaving Fuoco stuck at first base, as Eastern took its 2-0 edge into the bottom of the second – about to break open the bank.

Alex Shorette started the second with a single and quickly swiped second to get into scoring position.

From there, Ashley Serafin unleashed a double to right as Shorette easily scored and Eastern led 3-0.

With one out, Tellier nearly took a ball out of the park in center but the ball came just short of the fence and was dropped by the fielder.

Serafin hustled home to score a run and when Policki beat out an infield hit, Tellier scored from third to make it a 5-0 contest.

Jasmine Perez added a single and when Riley Giblin was hit-by-pitch, the bases were juiced with just one gone.

Jazmyn Browne (double, two RBI) then lofted a ball to left for an out and Policki tagged the dish as the sacrifice fly made it 6-0.

And then with two runners in scoring position, Janessa Gonzalez (2-for-4, four RBI), playing extremely well behind the plate, unleashed a single down the third base line – clearing the bases – as the Lancers snared an imposing 8-0 push as the home team had batted around.

In the third, the Blue Dragons put a runner in scoring position but Tellier generated her seventh strikeout of the game to end the threat as the visitors were on the wrong side of an 8-0 score.

“That was a good confidence booster for her. She pitched well,” said Redman of Tellier. “She was commanding almost everything most of the game. And when we had a pretty good lead, she was still kind of locked in. I thought she was throwing harder at the end of the game than she was in the beginning.”

“That’s pretty impressive given the score. She stayed locked in and kept the shutout intact which was good.” 

Serafin drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the third but did not score while in Middletown’s fourth frame, the visiting aggression attempted to get into the game.

Fuoco dropped in a one-out infield hit but ended up stuck at second base at the completion of the half-inning as Eastern was about to make it a double-digit affair.

With two runners on, Browne slipped an RBI double into center and Gonzalez followed up with a two-base hit of her own – plating Giblin and Browne – to make it an 11-0 game as Eastern was in complete control.

Eastern loaded the bases without the benefit of an out in the fifth and when Giblin was plunked by a pitch – this time in the top of the helmet – pinch runner Sophia Nocera scored as the game was a 12-0 romp.

Sarah Lacouture then dropped in an infield hit to second as the fielder didn’t have a play anywhere as the RBI tally helped Eastern go into the sixth stanza ahead by 13 runs.

The Blue Dragons failed to score in the sixth as the 13-0 lead holding firm.

Back-to-back-to-back singles by Tellier, Policki and Perez netted the Lancers a run in the sixth as the home team brought a 14-0 cushion into the seventh and final frame.

Tellier ended the contest by generating strikeout number 12 and 13 as the Lancers defeated the Blue Dragons, 14-0.

“Monday [against Lewis Mills], I think the girls expected this type of game,” said Redman. “I told them, it was a different approach from them today. Monday, they went in lackadaisical. Today, they came in focused. They scored early and they kept scoring a little bit here, a little bit there. I would have liked to have ended it a little bit earlier but it was fine.”

“They didn’t show up the other team. They played with some class and we kept trying to attack at the plate.”

CCC South Softball

BRISTOL EASTERN 14, MIDDLETOWN 0 

from the Bristol Eastern high school softball field

Middletown (1-4) 000 000 0 – 0 2 5

Bristol Eastern (3-2) 260 321 x – 14 12 1

WP: Ali Tellier (BE, 3-2); LP: Emily Pulino (M)

Middletown Batting

2B – None

3B – None

HR – None

Bristol Eastern Batting

2B – Ashley Serafin, Jazmyn Brown, Janessa Gonzalez

3B – None

HR – None

Records: Bristol Eastern 3-2 overall; Middletown 1-4