Tuesday marked the first full day of the high school spring sports state tournaments for local teams, and there certainly were some success stories.
The Wolcott, Bristol Eastern and Bristol Central softball teams all won first round games, though the way those wins came about differed.
Wolcott, the No. 8 seed in Class M, took out No. 25 Stonington, 8-2. The Eagles totaled 12 hits, including three from Kayla Nuehlen and two apiece from Kaitlyn Ouellette, Abby Wrinn, Jen Antonowicz and Kayleigh Doran. Sofia Gugliotti gave up two runs and struck out 11. Wolcott hosts No. 9 Griswold, another Eastern Connecticut Conference opponent, today at 4:30 p.m.
Bristol Eastern, the No. 15 seed in Class L, rode a Jasmine Perez three-run, walk-off home run to a 6-3 win over No. 18 North Haven. Perez finished the game with 3-for-4 with four RBI. Ali Tellier was 3-for-4 while Jazmyn Browne went 2-for-3. The Lancers play second-seeded St. Joseph today at 4 p.m. in Trumbull.
Bristol Central, the No. 11 seed in Class L, walked off against No. 22 Brookfield, 2-1. Janessa Bartel had the winning hit and went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Lorelei Stancavage had two hits and scored the winning run. Sophia Torreso claimed the win in the circle. Torreso and Alex Sciarretto combined for 10 strikeouts. The Rams will play at No. 6 Ledyard today at 4 p.m.
Kaynor Tech, the No. 12 seed in Class M, defeated No. 21 Goodwin Tech by a score of 11-3. Madison Sirois worked her magic at the plate and in the circle for the Panthers, who will play at No. 5 North Branford today at 3:30 p.m.
WCA was eliminated from Class L while Holy Cross was ousted from Class S.
Baseball
Three local teams won out of six that played Tuesday.
Bristol Central, the No. 16 seed in Class L, took down No. 17 Farmington, 5-1, at Muzzy Field. Sean Wininger pitched well and had a strong defense behind him, and Mike Lorenzetti led the offense with two hits. The Rams are at top-seeded Daniel Hand today at 3:30 p.m.
St. Paul, the top seed in Class S, blasted No. 32 Tourtellotte, 17-7. The Falcons launched four home runs; two from Mario Izzo, one from Ryan Daniels and one from Brendan Foley. St. Paul tallied 14 hits in the game, including three apiece from Izzo, Foley and Shaun Remillard. Daniels and Casey Cerruto tallied two hits apiece. St. Paul hosts No. 16 Hale Ray today at :30 p.m.
Holy Cross, the No. 11 seed in Class, used a seven-run fourth inning to beat No. 22 Lyman Memorial, 13-4. Logan Bessette went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI while Zak Morales was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBI. Andreas Effes also had two hits, and he scored a run and drove in another. Rob Rosko had a sacrifice fly, single and three RBI. Bessette pitched the first six innings and picked up the win. The Crusaders play at No. 6 East Granby today at 3:30 p.m.
Bristol Eastern and Kaynor Tech were eliminated from Class L and Wolcott was ousted from Class M. The Eagles had a chance to win in the bottom of the seventh inning, but wound up losing to Watertown, 7-4, in eight innings.
Girls tennis
Fourth-seeded Holy Cross blanked fifth-seeded Abbott Tech, 7-0, to advance to the semifinal round of Class S. Michaela Bell, Ella Mancini, Samantha Miller and Delia Murphy each won singles matches. The doubles winners were Jayme Erdtmann-Rachael Honneger, Kaya Bonderenko-Lyvia Bartoli and CC Bunlue-Fiona Murphy. The Crusaders face a big test when they play at top-seeded Old Lyme today at 3 p.m.
Girls lacrosse
No. 13 St. Paul was ousted by fourth-seeded Tolland, 16-8. The Falcons concluded another successful season with a WCLC championship and a win in the Class S state tournament qualifying round.
Outdoor track and field
Locals competed in their first state meet during the Class L championships at Willow Brook Park in New Britain. Bristol Central’s Victor Rosa and Wilby’s Messiah Harling captured state championships in individual events. Rosa won the 200-meter dash in 22.63 while Harling claimed the triple jump at a length of 46’10.25″. Rosa also had a second place finish in the 100-meter dash (11.23). Nate DeAngelo finished second in the 1600 meters (4:15.91) and fifth in the 3200 (9:12.98). Francis Porrini took fourth in the high jump (5’8″) and sixth in both the 800 (2:02.48) and 1600 (4:24.62). The Bristol Central boys finished fifth as a team.
CAPTION: Jen Antonowicz and the Wolcott softball offense tallied 12 hits in a Class M first round win at home Tuesday. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
