Bryanna Vearling, Cara Fabiano form Dynamic Duo at Bristol Softball (GALLERY)
For a softball team to succeed, it needs talent in the circle. Without a strong, athletic and savvy pitching staff, a team may look impressive but they probably will not make a deep postseason run.
Bristol High School presently sports a 20-0 record and, thanks to a dramatic 3-2 win over Greenwood in the opening game of the PIAA Class A playoffs, they are headed to the Keystone state Elite Eight. The Lady Warriors’ dynamic duo of junior Bryanna Vearling and sophomore Cara Fabiano certainly has provided that essential pitching spark.
The season pitching statistics alone attest to the duo’s prowess. Cara pitched in 11 games, logging an ERA of 0.37 and chalking up a 7-0 won/loss mark. Bryanna appeared in 15 games and sported a 0.76 ERA. She has racked up a perfect 12-0 record. Between them, they have given up only 12 runs in 79.2 innings of work. In addition to pitching, Cara hit .394 and scored 27 runs while Bryanna hit .356 and tallied 17 times.
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For Bryanna, the elder statesman of the two, pitching became her love when she was nine. Inspired by her cousin who pitched for Conwell Egan, Bryanna started taking pitching lessons. “She had an awesome pitching coach, Joe Bonner, who passed away a couple of years ago. I started going to him. I absolutely loved it and I stuck with it.”
Coach Bonner painted a very realistic picture for Bryanna of the demands placed on a pitcher. “He said it’s a big commitment. You’re going to have a whole different lifestyle than every other girl out on that field. It takes a lot more practice. It was a commitment I was willing to take at the age of ten. To this day, I am glad I did.”
Today, when not performing or practicing with the Warriors, Bryanna still attends private pitching sessions three times a week. Her sacrifice is balanced by the thrill she gets being in the circle.
“I love being able to control the game. It goes at your pace. I also love standing out there knowing I have a good defensive team behind me. Even if I get hit, I’ll be helped out by the girls behind me.”
Learning to handle the intensity of being in the spotlight was Bryanna’s first big challenge. “When I was young, I started in Little League. We went up to states and sectionals and there was a lot of pressure there. By ninth grade, I was on varsity but I watched Mary Wallick pitch and I noted how she stayed calm and held herself back in tough times. When it was my turn, I took what I learned from Mary and my coaches who told me you have to stay calm because the more you get worked up, the worse you’ll do. I talk to myself a lot out there.”
Having gained the poise, Bryanna could focus on developing her pitching arsenal. “I have a fastball, change up and curve. But my best pitch is my screwball. It goes in and curves right up. It’s what I throw a lot of the time.”
Experience has also granted Bryanna a sound game-day routine. She knows how to get prepped for a big game. “At the end of the schoolday, I know I want to win. After I get dressed for the game, I get on the bus and listen to my headphones all the way to the game. I get focused and get my head into the game. I go over what I need to do as the pitcher to lead the team. I visualize my motion and know what I have to do to hit my spots.”
Bristol coach Mike Lalli looked to Bryanna’s veteran savvy when giving her the starting nod in the PIAA State opener against Greenwood. Already experienced in states, Bryanna was ready. “Once I stepped on the mound, I was listening to Mr. Lalli call out pitches and was thinking about what he said about each batter. I thought about what he said I had to do or they were going to hit the ball.”
After cruising through an easy first inning, Bryanna faced a real challenge in the second frame. A pair of walks and a throwing error loaded the bases with two outs. Brianna bore down and got the final batter on a force-out at home.
“I slowed myself and thought about what was happening. I saw the bases loaded. Everybody was nervous, so I slowed myself down and hit the stuff I needed to hit.”
In the bottom of the second, Bryanna switched hats and provided the Warriors with an offensive spark. She led off and lofted a fly to right. When the second baseman and rightfielder misplayed the ball, Bryanna raced to third base. She then scampered home on Hailey Sweeney’s perfect suicide-squeeze bunt.
“I got lucky with it and getting all the way to third was amazing. I should have gone home but Hailey knocked me in. I felt great scoring that first run and, as my dad says, drawing that first inch of blood.”
Bryanna’s contributions to the big win were not over. After Greenwood starting catching up with her heat, Bryanna turned the pitching duties over to Cara Fabiano and assumed her other position in left field. Here, she snagged three fly balls, the last of which came with a runner on first and two out in the seventh. Bryanna raced back and made a great over the shoulder catch right in front of the fence to keep the game tied at two apiece.
“That was very nerve-wracking. I knew I had to go back and use the skills we practice every day. I knew I had to use two hands. I was glad I got that out. If I hadn’t, the score would have gone up and things would have been much worse.”
In the bottom of the seventh, freshman Hailey Sweeney sent the Bristol team into a frenzied celebration with her first pitch, walk-off homer to clinch the 3-2 win. “I felt ecstatic. I was a little nervous not with Hailey but for all of us. Hailey definitely did the job coming up and killing that home run. It is so amazing to get that first game out of the way and get to the quarterfinals and the Elite Eight.”
The win set up a showdown with Williams Valley, the District 11 champ who scored a lopsided 36-0 win in their opener against District 12 champion GAMP.
While that did not happen with the dynamic duo of Cara and Bryanna in the pitcher’s circle, the District 1 champs outpaced the Warriors 11-5 to advance and end Bristol’s season at 20-1.
