For a long time, a home run at the Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central softball fields was earned the hard way, by running around the bases.
Both fields had a fence on just the left field side, leaving right field wide open. Those fences were out of the reach of most hitters, so it was a case of get all you can get on the bases before the ball is thrown back to the infield.
That is no longer the case. Imagine my surprise when I was at Bristol Central High School at the end of April and saw a fence ringing the outfield of the softball field. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Of course there is a fence at Bristol Eastern as well. You won’t have a fence at one high school without having a fence at the other high school.
The last Lancer girl to hit a home run over a fence at Bristol Eastern was all-CCC and all-state standout Sara Plourde. Hitting it over the fence for Plourde meant clearing the fence that bordered the softball field parcel of land, in deep left field. If you’ve been to Bristol Eastern’s field, you know that must have been quite the clout. The same would apply for Bristol Central’s field.
Eastern took advantage of its new fence not once but twice in a 5-1 win over Newington on Thursday. Lauren Aparo will go down as the first Lancer to clear the new fence, and she was joined two batters later by Grace D’Amato.
