The Bristol Central softball team has reached a spot it hasn’t been in for nearly a decade.
With a 6-2 win over No. 13 Trumbull in a Class LL state quarterfinal on Saturday, the fifth-seeded Rams sewed up their first semifinal berth since 2013. Central lost to Mercy-Middletown in that semifinal and will be looking to reach its first state championship game since making back-to-back appearances in 2004 and 2005. The Rams have one state title to their credit in five tries, a 3-2 win over Windham in Class L in 1985.
In the Trumbull game, Alex Sciarretto was fantastic. She threw a complete game, and added an RBI single. Mya Porrini led the offense with a two-run rocket off the centerfield fence in the third inning as Central scored ran out to a 5-0 lead. The Rams scored their first run in the second inning, four in the third, and one last run in the fourth.
Up next for Central (21-4) is top-seeded Danbury (23-2) on Monday at 4 p.m. at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford. The Hatters, who were the tournament runner-up in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference to fellow Class LL semifinalist Fairfield Ludlowe, have been tested big time in their first two state contests. After a first round bye, Danbury edged No. 16 Shelton, 3-1, in eight innings. The Hatters played eighth-seeded West Haven in the quarterfinal round and needed 11 innings to win that one, 5-2.
In the Shelton victory, Danbury freshman Chloe Trimandilis drove in a run in the sixth inning to tie the game, 1-1, before senior Kaylee Drago ended it with a two-run, walk-off home run in the eighth. In the game against West Haven, Drago hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the 11th to send the Hatters to the semifinal round for the first time since 1987.
No matter who wins Monday, it will clinch the first appearance in a state final in a long time, 17 years for Central and 35 for Danbury.
PHOTO CREDIT: Pete Wininger, Bristol Central principal via Twitter
