Enfield gets even, moves on in CCC tourney
May 29—One revenge game down, another to go for the Enfield High softball team.
But there's more on the line for the Eagles than just getting even with Southington, a championship will be on line.
Fourth-seeded Enfield advanced to the CCC tournament final Friday with a 6-3 win over visiting No. 8 Glastonbury. The Eagles (19-3) will visit second-seeded Southington, which defeated No. 6 Bristol Central 13-5 in its semifinal Friday, for the title today.
The Blue Knights (21-1) defeated the Eagles 5-2 in Enfield on Tuesday to close out the regular season.
"We're excited to get the opportunity to get a chance to play them again and avenge the loss," Enfield coach Andrea Silva said.
Southington, ranked No. 3 in the GameTimeCT state poll, has won 20 straight since losing to Bristol Eastern on April 14. Enfield has won 11 of its last 12 with the only loss in the span to Southington.
Glastonbury (14-5) defeated Enfield 7-4 on April 19 but the Eagles jumped on top of the Guardians Friday.
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, consecutive singles by Makenzie Cray, Olivia Stebbins, and Taylor Lathrop loaded the bases. Tiffany Lubanski then cleared the bases with a double for a 3-0 Enfield lead.
Glastonbury got runs back in the third and fifth to make it a one-run gap before the Eagles' bats came alive. Singles by Kim Baumann and Cray put runners at the corners and Stebbins brought in Baumann with a sacrifice fly. Lathrop's second hit, an RBI single, made it 5-2.
After the Guardians got one in the top of the sixth, the Eagles responded with Dani Riendeau delivering a run-scoring single.
Lubanski was the winning pitcher, allowing five hits. She walked four and struck out eight. Brooke Tracy allowed nine hits in taking the loss for Glastonbury. She walked two and fanned 12. Tracy had two of her team's five hits.
Glastonbury is the No. 9 seed for the Class LL state tournament and will host No. 24 Conard in a first-round game on Tuesday.
Enfield is the No. 4 seed in Class LL and has a first-round bye. The Eagles will entertain either No. 20 West Haven or No. 13 Stamford Wednesday.
But first there's a CCC title on the line.
"This league tournament has really helped us and allowed us to see some strong competition," Silva said. "I think it's given our girls a lot of confidence and that will help us going forward."
If rain postpones today's game, the CCC final will be played Monday.
