Dan Drewniak won’t freely admit it. Point out his actions during the game, and he’ll quietly say it. But after hosting Queen City foe Manchester Central, the West softball head coach reluctantly came out with it.

“It’s a friendly rivalry,” said Drewniak with a laugh. “I hate to say it, but it is. There’s a lot of history with these Manchester teams, and the ‘Queen City champs’ title has a lot of clout. But when you know most of the girls on the opposing team and get along so well with the coach, it’s hard to keep up that hard-nosed-rivals attitude.”

While the chats with Central head coach Trish Ellis were light-hearted and humorous, the Blue Knights’ performance was the opposite.

Hard-hit balls found the holes, well-executed sacrifice bunts moved runners into scoring position and a couple of timely RBI doubles paced West in its 7-2 win over the Little Green on Monday, April 30.

The Blue Knights jumped out to a first-inning, 3-0 cushion. Leadoff hitter Nicole Warren delivered an infield hit. Lynn Brewster followed with a sacrifice bunt, and Melissa Vitagliano reached first on an error. West pitcher Kurstin Provencher plated two teammates with a double. Provencher came around on Ashton Levis’s RBI single for West’s third run.

West stretched the lead to 4-2 in its half of the third, with Warren kickstarting the offense again.

Vitagliano scored Warren on a double that landed a few feet short of clearing the fence.

Provencher settled in after giving up two runs, one in the second and one in the third. Strikeouts, grounders and fly balls were all Central’s hitters produced after the third inning.

Provencher handed the ball to Brewster during the sixth inning, leaving the mound with a four-hit performance. Provencher fanned six, walked five and allowed two runs in five-plus frames.

“The early lead doesn’t mean anything because it’s the third time we’ve done it,” said Drewniak.

“Kurstin threw a great game to let us hang on long enough to win. She did her part and let them go out there and hit.”

The Blue Knights tagged Central reliever Ashley Kitchell for three more runs in the home half of the sixth. Provencher provided a leadoff double before Levis reached on a bunt. Sarah Johnson’s sacrifice bunt scored Provencher, while sophomore Sarah Lacaillade’s single moved Levis to third. Freshman Kelsea Dowse’s two-RBI single scored Levis and Lacaillade.

“They’ve got some really good girls on that team,” said Drewniak of the opposition. “We had some laughs here on the sidelines, but it is always nice to beat Central. You’ve got to think of the rivalry.”