BRISTOL—Rhode Island landed the first punch Wednesday afternoon.
Bristol answered with 11 of its own.
After falling behind in the opening inning, the Bristol Little League Softball 12-year-old All-Stars erupted for five runs in the second and never looked back, rolling to an 11-1, mercy-rule victory over Cranston West to punch its ticket to Thursday’s noon-time New England Little League Softball Tournament championship game.
Bristol will now play for the regional title and a berth in the Little League Softball World Series. The opponent will be the winner of Wednesday’s loser’s bracket final between Rhode Island and Gorham, Maine.
Rhode Island grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Chloe Whittenberger singled, moved to second on a groundout and eventually scored on Nina Graziano’s two-out bloop single to left.
That would be all Bristol starter Ava Lefurgey would allow.
The right-hander settled in after the rocky first inning, retiring 13 of the final 15 batters she faced while striking out seven. Lefurgey scattered three hits and walked just one over five innings.
The Connecticut offense wasted little time responding.
Makinnley Whitlock drew a leadoff walk in the second before Mary Thompson was hit by a pitch and Ellie Tiscia walked to load the bases.
Dakota Green forced home the tying run with a walk before Faithmarie Soto lined a two-run single to center, giving Bristol its first lead at 3-1.
Alex Patterson added a ground ball that brought home two more runs, one scoring on an error, as Bristol sent nine batters to the plate and built a 5-1 advantage.
The lead grew to 6-1 an inning later.
Lucy Kalat worked a two-out walk, stole second and scored when Lefurgey lined a single to center. The pitcher helped her own cause by advancing to second on the throw.
Bristol added three more runs in the fourth.
Avery Collins opened the inning with a single before Thompson walked. Green lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Collins, Soto delivered her second RBI single of the night and Patterson followed with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 9-1.
The hosts put the finishing touches on the victory in the fifth.
Kalat stole second after reaching on a fielder’s choice, Lefurgey walked and Whitlock drilled a two-run double to center, scoring both runners to cap the scoring at 11-1.
Soto led Bristol’s six-hit attack, going 2-for-2 with three RBIs. Whitlock finished 1-for-2 with a double, two RBIs and a walk, while Lefurgey helped herself at the plate with a single, RBI and a walk.
Patterson drove in two runs, Green collected two RBIs, and Kalat scored twice and stole two bases.
After allowing the game’s first run, Bristol’s pitching and defense slammed the door. Lefurgey struck out the side in the third inning and didn’t allow another Rhode Island runner past first base over the final three innings.
With the victory, Bristol advances to Wednesday night’s New England championship game with a trip to the Little League Softball World Series on the line.
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