Fueled by eighth-grader, Latin rules the BCL

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Collier strikes out 13 batters

O’Bryant’s Nia Buyu, left, tags Latin Academy’s Claire Hauck, who slides safely into second base during the fourth inning of the City League softball championship game Saturday. PHOTO BY PAUL CONNORS — MEDIA NEWS GROUP/BOSTON HERALD

Latin Academy third baseman Kilani Kahrim, rear, tags out O’Bryant runner Mia Buyu, who tumbles into the base during the third inning of the City League softball championship game. PHOTO BY PAUL CONNORS — MEDIA NEWS GROUP/BOSTON HERALD

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My Marco Rosetti

Correspondent

Boston Latin Academy weathered the rain and a stout challenge from O’Bryant to capture the Boston City League softball championship, winning 9-5, at BC’s Harrington Athletic Village.

Eighth-grader Camryn Collier pitched a complete game with 13 strikeouts and added an RBI single at the plate. Catcher Claire Hauck was named MVP of the game and went 2-2 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 actually struggled a little bit, but we worked through it,” said Latin Academy head coach Rocco Zizza. “(To) end up winning a game, 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,” said 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 finally 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 score on the bunt, giving O’Bryant a 5-3 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,” said Hauck on her home run. “I saw it and I was like, ‘I’m just gonna swing’ and hit it.”

With the game 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 game and City League championship for Latin Academy.