Elza’s home run lifts Bristol over Maplewood
By Greg Gulas
BAZETTA
Laurin Elza’s solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the margin of difference as the Bristol Panthers defeated the Maplewood Rockets, 1-0 in a Division IV district semifinal Monday at Candlelite Knolls.
They will meet three-time defending district champion Mathews at 5 p.m. today in a district final. The Mustangs have defeated the Panthers in two of their previous three district final victories.
“It was a fastball right down the middle and I was able to swing right through it and get it to lift. I wasn’t thinking home run, just base hit so needless to say I was very happy when it cleared the fence,” Elza said.
It was the third time this season that Bristol (17-2) defeated Maplewood (15-8) by shutout, winning the previous two outings by identical 2-0 margins.
“That was Laurin’s second home run of the season and her second in four days. She’s our silent power hitter,” Bristol coach Debbie Rowles said. “The way the game started I could just tell that whoever scored first was going to have the upper hand today.”
Both teams failed to capitalize early with runners in scoring position as the Rockets stranded five base runners and the Panthers four after the first three innings of play.
Maplewood ended up stranding nine runners in the game, placing a runner in scoring position in five of seven innings while hitting safely in all but the final frame.
The Panthers on the other hand, had just three hits through the first five stanzas and with one out in the sixth, Elza connected off Rockets twirler Brooke Dawson for what turned out to be the only run either team could manage in the contest.
Dawson scattered just five hits and struck out 10 Bristol batters to absorb the loss while Panthers twirler Ashlyn Slusher, who struck out seven Maplewood batters and forced eight groundball outs, picked up the win.
“Today I threw a lot of fastballs, but relied on my screwball and change-up as well. Both teams had the jitters early and needed a few innings to get settled down,” Slusher said. “I always feel confident with my defense when I pitch and today was no different.”
Elza called Slusher a real game-day pitcher.
“Ashley has pitched really well for us all year. She does her thing on the mound and we do our thing defensively and at the plate,” Elza said.
Slusher then closed out the game by setting down the side in the seventh inning, the only time all game that she retired the Rockets in order.
Bristol and Mathews split their season series as Bristol won, 3-0, at home, and Mathews won at home, 4-3, in 10 innings.
“We’ve played each other twice this season and know that we have to be prepared from first pitch to final out,” Rowles said.