Fueled by eighth-grader, Latin Academy softball team rules the BCL again

Boston Latin Academy weathered the rain and a stout challenge from O Bryant to capture the Boston City League softball championship winning - at BC s Harrington Athletic Village Eighth-grader Camryn Collier pitched a complete encounter with strikeouts and added an RBI single Catcher Claire Hauck was named MVP of the competition and went - with a double a two-RBI home run and two walks We weren t at our best particularly at the beginning We struggled at the plate We struggled on the field The pitcher authentically struggled a little bit but we worked through it commented Latin Academy head coach Rocco Zizza To end up winning a challenge in particular winning a championship when you re not playing your best it shows something Both offenses started slow as the first three innings stayed scoreless O Bryant managed to get on base but struggled to bring runners home stranding two runners in each of the first three innings Meanwhile Latin Academy s offense struggled to deal with O Bryant pitcher Rylee Hamblin s slower timing netting just one hit in the same span The pitcher was awkward for us stated Zizza Our biggest struggle was the speed of the pitcher It s not a speed that we were as used to and so really had to regroup and not dip as much added senior Ruby Gold O Bryant completely broke the deadlock in the fourth inning With the bases loaded Hamblin scored three runners with a two-out triple With Hamblin looming on third Collier managed to close the inning with a groundout preventing more damage Latin Academy responded in the bottom half of the inning After two walks to Hauck and Caitlin Sweeney Ashlyn Brady nabbed an RBI single and Kilani Kahrim followed her up with a two-run double tying the contest at three In the top of the fifth O Bryant added another two runs thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Aissatou Bangura A lapse in communication from the Latin Academy infield allowed a runner from second to count on the bunt giving O Bryant a - lead Once again Latin Academy responded in the bottom half of the inning After Ruby Gold reached base on a walk Hauck brought her home with a two-run homer clanging off the scoreboard in left field I m good with high pitches and a lot of her pitches were high noted Hauck on her home run I saw it and I was like I m just gonna swing and hit it With the championship tied again at five Collier regained her composure on the mound and struck out the side In the bottom of the sixth Collier helped her own cause with an RBI single followed by two RBI bunt from Gold and another RBI single from Brady capping off a four-run inning Collier decisively closed the door on O Bryant s comeback in the seventh retiring the first three batters to clinch the contest and City League championship for Latin Academy