East Granby Softball Gears Up for Tournament With Victory over Bolton

The softball team got some sweet revenge on its Senior Day Monday, notching an impressive 11-2 victory over Bolton in East Granby.

Indeed, the Bulldogs defeated the Crusaders 8-7 in Bolton on May 10, so East Granby got a little pay back with the victory, which ended Bolton’s aspirations for a state tournament berth.

“They beat us last time,” East Granby head coach Carl Ferrara said. “We played very, very well today. Especially defensively. We gave runs away in the first inning, but then we just shut everything down.”

Sure enough, Bolton (6-13, 5-12 NCCC) took a 2-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of a couple of fielding errors.

East Granby (9-7) showed its resolve, however, by scoring 11 straight runs.

Third baseman Alissa Gileau brought the Crusaders level with a two-run double in the bottom of the first, knocking in Anna Glassman and Jessica Grobinsky.

After taking a 3-2 lead in the second on an error that scored Dana Kilby, the Crusaders broke the game open with a five-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.

Glassman had a huge two-RBI single, while Gileau and Jolene Bascom had consecutive singles that brought the score to 8-2 and put the game effectively out of reach.

Grobinsky, the starting pitcher, earned the victory by allowing two runs, none earned, on five hits over seven innings. She walked four and struck out six.

“We’ve qualified for the state tournament,” Ferrara said. “This is the way we’ve got to play when we get in.”

Bolton, for its part, will play just one more game to close out the regular season.

“We were hoping to win because we needed two more wins to get into the state tournament,” Bulldogs head coach Renee Midford said. “We came out very aggressive and had some miscues the rest of the game. Credit to East Granby. They have a lot of great players on that team.”

Among those players are the five seniors who played their final regular season home game: Taylor Seelen, Haylee Kulig, Michelle Raabe, Glassman and Bascom.

“This is a true family,” Ferrara said. “Look at the parents. They don’t know who’s a freshman and who’s a senior. They stay together as a group and the seniors made it that way. I’m going to miss them. I had most of these seniors since they were freshmen. I don’t believe it’s over.”