East Lyme and Bristol have clinched berths in next week’s state Little League Softball championship tournament after both teams posted wins in their respective sectional tournament games on Monday.
East Lyme got a no-hitter from its pitcher in a 1-0 win over SFC-Preston in the Section 2 winner’s bracket final in Stafford Springs while in Bristol, the tournaments earned a 10-5 win over Fairfield to qualify for the next step.
Both teams will play for Sectional championships on Wednesday.
Here’s a rundown of all of Monday’s games, which saw two more teams eliminated, as well.
SECTION 2
East Lyme-Salem 1, SFC-Preston 0
East Lyme pitcher Ava Menchaca pitched a complete-game, no-hitter, striking out 10 and walking two, to clinch a state tournament berth and advance to Wednesday’s title game.
The ELS squad got the only run it would need in the top of the first inning against SFC-Preston.
Paison Perkins doubled to lead-off the game and Angeline Lloyd singled to left to score her, staking East Lyme-Salem to a 1-0 lead just two batters into the game.
Neither team would score again as pitching ruled the day.
Even SFC-Preston pitcher Kensie Farland wouldn’t give up a hit the rest of the game, as she struck out 4 and walked six, taking a tough loss.
For SFC-Preston, Bridgette LePage and Madison Daniels both drew walks.
SFC-Preston will face Madison-Clinton on Tuesday, with the winner clinching a state tournament berth and the right to play East Lyme-Salem for the title on Wednesday.
Madison-Clinton 5, Manchester 0
Shea Oliveira went 3-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored and fired a complete-game one-hitter as Madison-Clinton stayed alive with a 5-0 win over Manchester.
Madison-Clinton will face SFC-Preston on Tuesday for the right to face East Lyme-Salem for the Section 1 title. The winner of Tuesday’s game will also clinch a berth in the upcoming state tournament.
Ryan Macellaro (1 run, 1 RBI) and Genevieve Tomas (2 RBIs) both had two hits for the winners. Tomas had a double. Stella Darling added a double and an RBI.
In the circle, Oliveira had struck out seven and overcame seven walks to pitch the shutout.
For Manchester, which was eliminated with the loss, Gracie Nazario doubled. Aubrey Hulse and Josiana Cordero both walked twice.
Nazario struck out nine and walked just one in defeat.
• • •
SECTION 1
Bristol 10, Fairfield 5
Ava Lefurgey drove in four runs, and Avery Collins pitched four shutout relief innings as the Bristol All-Stars topped Fairfield in a back-and-forth game.
Bristol took a 3-0 lead in the first inning before Fairfield scored five runs in the bottom of the second. Bristol responded with four more runs in the third and added three more runs over the next two innings to pull away.
Collins struck out four and walked one in her relief stint to get the win.
Lefurgney, meanwhile, was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored while plating four runs.
Lucy Bastiaanse was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI from the leadoff spot while Keeva Knowles added a double, as well.
For Fairfield, Olivia White was 2-for-2 with two doubles while Brynn Minar had a double and a single. Emma Kello also doubled.
While Bristol advances to the Section 1 title game and the state tournament, Fairfield will face Milford on Tuesday for a right to advance to both.
Milford 16, West Hartford 1
Milford pitcher Avery Caprio fired a two-hitter, striking out two and giving up just one run, while her team’s bats pounded out 12 hits in support as the team advanced to Tuesday’s game.
Milford will face Fairfield for the right to go to the state tournament and played Bristol on Wednesday for the Section 1 title.
Eleven of Milford’s 12 hits were singles as Addison Iannaccone had a single, double and two RBIs to lead the way.
Leadoff hitter Molly Maziarz was 2-for-2 with a walk and four runs scored; Kaylee Phelan was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and three runs scored; and Cayla Doyle was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, as well.
Caprio aided her own cause with a hit and two RBIs, too.
For West Hartford, which was eliminated with the loss, Erin Keefe and Erin Sills had hits. Keefe had a double while Sills had an RBI.
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