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Bristol’s Slusher blanks Mathews
By Ryan Buck
BAZETTA
At some point today, Bristol sophomore softball standout Ashlyn Slusher will be in her cardiologist’s waiting room, awaiting the results of the appointment she had to make two weeks ago after collapsing while crossing home plate in a regular-season game with Maplewood.
“I went to the doctor’s (office),” Slusher said, reassuring her audience of her improved health, “and then to the cardiologist’s. But I’m feeling better.”
To most, softball would be the last thing on the mind at a time like this. Slusher, however, has one response for anything other than a clean bill of health.
“They better not tell me that I’m not playing,” she said, “because I’m gonna play.”
On Tuesday night at the Candlelight Knolls Softball Complex, she certainly showed she can. Slusher dominated Mathews, pitching a complete game while striking out 14 and allowing one hit.
The top-seeded Panthers (13-1) advanced to tonight’s Division IV district softball final as Slusher out-dueled Mustangs ace Cheyenne Eggens in a 2-0 Bristol triumph.
“Everything was working for her,” said Bristol coach Debbie Rowles. “She’s been fighting a bug and some poison ivy, but she came back with a vengeance tonight. She’s all healthy and she wanted this game.”
And so did her teammates. In a 13-inning epic earlier in the season, Eggens, a Division I softball recruit, got the better of Slusher as the Mustangs came away with a 1-0 win.
“We played a good game the first time,” Rowles said. “They knew they could hit [Eggens]. I think they just came out with a positive attitude. I told them from the get-go, ‘We’ve got to score first.’”
In the top of the fourth, they did just that as Laurin Elza doubled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice. Eggens intentionally walked Slusher before striking out Lindsay Elza. One pitch later, Autumn Miller’s single to center scored Laurin Elza before Lauren Slusher’s single brought her sister home.
With a 2-0 lead Ashlyn, still on medications from her scare two weeks ago, shut out the prolific Mustangs (16-8-1).
“I think we were a little too anxious,” said Mathews coach Jim Nicula. “We wanted to be a little more patient at the plate and our girls weren’t.”
The Panthers will see third-seeded Windham tonight in the district title game. The Bombers, behind Brittany Knight’s 15 strikeouts and a one-hitter of her own, outlasted McDonald in the second game of the night.
“I’m feeling good,” said Knight, a sophomore. “Last year we didn’t make it this far so it’s nice to get to a district championship.”
Outside of Olivia Sanson’s fourth-inning single, where she was left stranded on third base, Knight was perfect and struck out the side in the first, sixth and seventh innings.
“Normally I go with the curveball, but I pounded the inside corner a lot tonight,” Knight said. “It kind of gave me an edge. Against the bigger hitters, I would pound them inside then give them some junk.”
The Bombers didn’t live up to their nickname, but instead manufactured a third-inning run. With two outs, Knight helped her own cause with a double and came around to score on Madi Kilgore’s single one batter later.
“She’s just a straight power pitcher,” McDonald coach Tom Senich said of Knight. “She made it really tough on us the whole time.”