Class B softball quarterfinals

Duel in the sun

Pine Plains eliminates Sullivan West in extra innings

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Under the glare of a scorching sun, a high-tension duel took place on May 30 between two softball pitchers of note. Sullivan West sophomore Sarah Lander was locked in pitched battle with Pine Plains sophomore Abby Harpp. The winner would propel her team forward in the Class B softball sectionals; the loser would no doubt hold herself accountable for her team’s untimely end to the season.

It was the second time this year that the two teams had met.

Back on April 3, Harpp had her way with the inexperienced young Lady Bulldogs. She fired a perfect game at Sullivan West, a team comprised of many newbies still wet behind the ears. The final score was 7-0 in favor of the Lady Bombers.

In that first outing, Harpp displayed a fiery fastball, which she interspersed with a change-up that kept Sullivan West batters off balance.

This time out on May 30, Harpp, along with her fifth-seeded Pine Plains Lady Bombers, endured the 2½-hour bus ride to wage a fight-to-the-death battle with fourth-seeded Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs.

Pumped up by a sizeable home crowd and her own competitive fire, Lander got a one-two-three first inning that ended when she snagged a drilled liner from Pine Plains Jessalyn Sweeny.

By the time the second inning had ended, Lander had racked up three strikeouts and had held the Lady Bombers scoreless.

For her part, Harpp put together three scoreless innings, inducing four strikeouts and allowing only Sam VanDiver to reach base on an E-2 in the first inning.

The way Harpp was pitching, it looked as if Pine Plains might be able to eek out a win with one or two runs. They got the first run in the top of the third when Eve Deveua reached on a bunt single and promptly stole second. Julie White advanced her on a ground out and Deveau scored when Lander elected to throw a change up to Harpp that bounced away, allowing Deveau to score.

Given Lander’s success with her fastball, it was a strange choice to throw the change with a runner on third, especially since the Lady Bombers weren’t getting around on her heater.

Sweeny blasted a solo home run to right center in the top of the fourth and Pine Plains led 2-0. Sullivan West coach Mike Ellmauer called a conference at the mound and soothed his players, reminding them that there was plenty of game left to play.

In the top of the fourth, Ginger Pierce got the first of her two hits for Sullivan West. Freshman call-up Rachel Houghtaling, a young woman with a fierce competitive fire of her own (already evinced in basketball) came to the plate and belted a two-run homer to tie the game.

Entering the dugout with smiles and pats from her teammates, Houghtaling, who was playing third base in place of Allison Swendsen, looked to be the x-factor that could finally undo Harpp’s magic.

With the scored tied at two, the two teams locked up in a scoreless battle for three innings. Sullivan West threatened in the sixth inning when Harpp issued back-to-back singles to Kristen Niemann and Pierce. But facing the pressure of two on and no out, Harpp reached back and struck out the next three batters to get out of the jam.

For her part, Lander had already escaped trouble in the top of the fifth after walking Jenny Brown on four pitches and allowing a single to Tabby Brennan. Lander got the next three batters.

After seven innings, the two teams were still deadlocked.

The eighth inning proved to be Sullivan West’s demise. White led off with a single and stole second. Lander walked Jackie Inseniello. Runners moved up on a passed ball and Sweeny reached on a single. With two out, Roxanne Myerr hit a single, which combined with an E-5 to score White with the go-ahead run.

Harpp buzzed through Sullivan West’s number two, three and four batters to ice the win. The last person at the plate was Houghtaling. Harpp struck her out, but Myerr dropped the pitch and then threw her out at first to end the game.

Houghtaling took the loss particularly hard.

Ellmauer complimented his team for playing competitively.

“We didn’t give them anything. Sectionals are tough. When you lose, it’s like falling off a ladder. We played a competitive ball game. We started off young this year and this game came down to one bad inning,” he said.

Sullivan West ended its season at 5-8.