By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central softball team will be competing into the final week of the postseason for the second straight campaign.

And the Rams are raring and itching to go as the second ranked program in all of Class L battles No. 3 Jonathan Law on Monday night from West Haven High School (7 p.m.).

The contest will pit two of the top programs in all of Connecticut in a major league showdown.

“I’m thrilled,” said Central catcher Lorelei Stancavage of playing into championship week. “I’m absolutely thrilled.”

And Stancavage, an uncrowned All-State catcher, was simply tremendous in her final at-bat against No. 7 St. Joseph in the quarterfinal round – trailing 3-2.

But Central made sure there were some ducks on the pound before Stancavage strode up to the dish.

With one away, first year contributor Dez Nickerson nearly had the hit of the game (Stancavage just one-upped her in the end) as her blazing triple to centerfield started to set the table.

Nickerson, who moved into centerfield about halfway through the season, has been one of the team’s biggest surprises and has performed well at the No. 9 slot of the batting order.

And then after the second out was recorded, the St. Jospeh squad made an interesting decision.

It probably was a wise one as the Cadets wanted nothing to do with Central freshman Lillian VanNostrand (2-for-3).

Instead of dealing with VanNostrand, who hasn’t played anything remotely like a freshman this year, she was intentionally walked to put runners on first and third.

VanNostrand has thrived in right field, another change to the defensive lineup midway through the campaign.

So, St. Joseph decided to contend with the heart of the Central line-up instead.

It was darned if you do, and darned if you don’t.

It appeared that the Cadets pitched around a certain future Division I athlete, Central pitching stud Sophia Torreso, and loaded up the bases for another bulldog in the form of Stancavage.

And Central coach Monica Hayes was elated that it was Stancavage up at the dish for one final at-bat.

“I have absolute confidence that Lorelei could get a hit,” said Hayes. “I just looked out at the stands and was just smiling. I said this is awesome. This is good competition. This is fun and I’m just so happy for all these kids and their parents to see this team compete and execute and play at a high level.”

Even with the count at 1-2 and the game reaching its final stages, Stancavage wasn’t looking stressed in the least.

“I said to her, ‘I love you [and] I know you’re going to give it your best effort,” said Hayes to Stancavage. “She smiled. She has her routine she goes through, deep breath, and I saw it.”

“And I’m like, ‘all right, she’s locked in.”

And then the hit of the showdown came and went as Stancavage roped a shot to deep centerfield.

Nickerson was first to tag the dish and VanNostrand was on her heals for the game-winning run.

“I totally believed she could do it and I’m just so happy for her,” said Hayes.

If the game was still in the balance, it appeared Torreso would have easily scored from first base and Stancavage might] have raced to the dish for a possible in the park home run.

Credit Torreso (seven Ks) for a lights out sixth and seven frames, Kaley Laird and Adrianna Lubrico (1-for-3, RBI) for tremendous defense while Stancavage was tough behind the plate and then generated the game-winning hit.

Those four outstanding seniors are the perfect role models for any rebuilding or established program or team.  

“All four seniors, they did something today that was positive,” said Hayes. “I just said to these kids, if you just follow the seniors, they’re not going to lead you down the wrong path. They’ve been absolutely fantastic.”

And now, who has home field advantage for the rest of the playoffs?

Why it’s Bristol Central of course.

Due to No. 1 North Haven falling to Ellington (1-0) in quarterfinal round play, this is Central’s tournament to lose.

The program is now 23-2 and an outstanding 45-7 over the past two years so it’s fitting the Bristol Central softball program is competing into the final week of scholastic competition once more time. 

“If you like to compete, you obviously want to make it as far as possible,” said Hayes. “So, to make it to the last week is fantastic. I think in the last month, what these kids have done, the way they’ve competed and the way they’ve played for this team, the make-up of this team, to get this far, is an incredible accomplishment.”

“I’m so happy for them, for their parents and everybody in this Bristol Central community. It’s pretty awesome.”

NOTES…Thanks to the lightning delay just 20 minutes into the Central/St. Josephs game, the Central bathroom break over/under was never firmly established. Did a certain shortstop take a break first? Was it someone else? Who knows…During the storm intermission, all the athletes were stationed safely inside the Bristol Central cafeteria. The rumor was Central players attempted to feed St. Joseph players tasty Sloppy Joe sandwiches with several pounds of ‘mystery meat’ dug out of the cafeteria freezers. The Cadets politely refused (imagine how many bathroom breaks St. Joesphs would have needed after eating those sandwiches…).