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BRISTOL, Pa. — Although its win was totally expected, the Bristol High softball team (18-3) did do a good job of taking care of business in the opening round of the PIAA Class 2A state tournament on Monday.
Taking on Mast Charter II from the Tacony section of Philadelphia, Bristol pounded its was to a 14-1 victory to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
In that quarterfinal the Warriors will take on the winner of the game between South Williamsport and Newport.
“It took us until the second time through the lineup to get going, but then we got the hits and were able to build a little confidence,” said Bristol’s highly-successful coach Dave Chichilitti.
After scoring just one run in the first two innings, Bristol erupted for four in the third inning and then nine more in a fourth in which it pounded out nine of its 15 hits.
The third started with singles by Grace Boyle and Amirah Bell before Samiyah Bell belted a two-run double to left center. Zoey McElveen also got a run home in the third with a single.
In the fourth, Boyle drove in the first run with a single and later in the inning completed a 3-for-4 day by knocking in two more runs to finish with three RBIs.
Amirah Bell also had two hits in the inning and was 4-for-4 with two RBIs. One of her hits was an RBI double, which was followed by a towering double to deep left by Samiyah Bell (three RBIs). Mackanzie Kauffman also doubled home a run in the fourth, and McKenzie Newcomb lined a run-scoring single.
In addition to the three hits by Boyle, the four by Amirah Bell and the three by Samiyah Bell in the top three spots in the order, Bristol also got two hits by Brianna Slack, who doubled along with Lily Gonzalez.
The team’s excellent freshman pitcher, Slack ended up throwing a three-hitter with nine strikeouts in five innings of work.
While it’s true Mast Charter II is just in its second year of varsity softball, at least it didn’t give the game away with a bunch of walks and errors.
“She (Mast pitcher Robin Charlton) threw strikes and made us hit the ball,” agreed Chichilitti. “But this is the not type of game you want to get ready for a game that could advance you to the state semifinals. We told the girls this is not what you are going to get on Thursday.”
No matter what happens on Thursday, this very young Bristol team is clearly headed in the right direction and has put together a solid year. Especially when you consider it lost its top player (senior shortstop Taylor McClain) to a knee injury before the season even got started.
Mast Charter II 000 01 – 1 3 3
Bristol (18-3) 104 9x – 14 15 0
WP-Slack. LP-Charlton. 2B-Charlton, Kauffman (B), S. Bell (B) 2. Gonzalez (B), Slack.
PIAA Class 3A
Palisades 9, Conwell-Egan 5
KINTERSVILLE — After making it to the Class 2A state final last year, Conwell-Egan was knocked out in the first round of Class 3A. The Eagles were right in this game until the home team scored five in the fourth and gave up only run from there. Conwell-Egan finished an excellent season with a record of 13-6.
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