Prince Puts Together A Royal Season For The Bears

What Brianne Prince did for the Frewsburg Bears simply left most people in awe.The 1996 Post-Journal Softball Player of the Year was dominating.

For the second consecutive season, her powerful pitching helped advance the Bears to the Western Regional, just one game shy of the state tournament. They captured the Section 6 Class D championship for the second year in a row under Coach Jon Blanchard.

The numbers she put up are mind-blowing.

Prince, who was just a sophomore, tossed five no-hitters, two in Division 2 play. She composed a 20-3 overall record and was 12-2 in the league.

In 142 innings pitched throughout the spring, Prince yielded a mere 52 hits and fanned 231 batters attempting to catch up to her blistering heater. She was equally as dominant in Frewsburg’s Division 2 championship season as she pitched 91 innings, allowed just 25 hits and struck out 148. Her control was precise as she walked just 21. Her earned run average was just 0.46

“She’s a big weapon to have,” said Blanchard of Prince early ion the season. “We kind of feel that if we can score four or five runs in a game, we can feel confidant about winning.

“She gets better as the game goes on,” he added. “She’s a strong girl.”

The Bears rarely had trouble scoring runs for Prince, and they had plenty of defense to back her up when she wasn’t busy sitting players back on the bench.

“That’s her job – make the girls put the ball in play,” said Blanchard. “Hopefully our defense backs her up.”

While Prince received most of her acclaim on the mound, she also had a strong season at the plate, where she batted over .360 overall, drove in 14 runs and scored 17 times. Prince also hit two doubles and a triple. She struck out just three times all season, the least on the team among regulars. In league play, Prince batted .286.

Some of brightest moments came during the Section 6 tournament as she earned a 3-0 record. Prince opened with consecutive no-hitters against Cattaraugus and Ripley to get the Bears into the finals. In those two games, she recorded 21 strikeouts. In the title game against Franklinville, Prince allowed just two unearned runs and struck out seven.