Baseball

Eighth wonder to the third power

Bulldogs dodge Monticello comeback bid as teams go to extra innings for third straight year

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONGAUP VALLEY, NY — If you like drama, make sure you’re on hand when Monticello and Sullivan West dial it up for a softball game. Be prepared for a bizarre finish and extra innings to boot. For some strange reason, it seems to happen with startling regularity when these two teams cross each other’s path and this year was no exception.

For the third straight year, the two teams battled to a tie in the seventh inning that propelled the game into an extra frame. Two years ago, Monticello came away with the win, but last year the Lady Bulldogs turned the tables on their cross-county non-league foes by overcoming a one-run deficit in the eighth inning with two runs in the bottom of the frame punctuated by a Katie Moloney game-winning single. Moloney graduated, as did Allison Swendsen. Sullivan West won last year’s close call 6-5.

The donning of caps and gowns cost Monticello its pitcher Rachael Huffman and heavy hitter Jackie Litwak, who went on to offer her services to the Sullivan County Women’s League champion Cooper Paint last summer. This year’s cast of characters offered a mix of experienced players and some first-timers who made their presence felt.

Early on in this game, it looked as if those up-for-grabs nail biters were a thing of the past. A look at the pitching match ups at the outset would have had the odds makers leaning in favor of Sullivan West, as coach Mike Ellmauer had veteran Sarah Lander on the hill and Monticello coach Ed Kaufmann handed the ball to junior Jessica Simpson, who was making her first-ever start.

The Bulldogs got four runs in the first two innings. They got one in the first as Ginger Pierce parlayed a single into the game’s first run by stealing a pair of bases and scoring on a fielder’s choice by Kristen Niemann.

Lander iced the Lady Panthers one-two-three in the first and the Lady Bulldogs added a trio of runs in the second with RBI from Lindsey Bauer, Morgan Edwards and Lander. Credit Cara Davies with getting that rally started with a leadoff double. Bauer’s single drove her in. Then Edwards walked, moved up on a passed ball and got to third on an E-2. Lander’s ground out plated the third run of the inning.

But Kaufmann’s team refused to say uncle. Simpson settled in for a remarkable five-inning stretch of putting up zeroes. Meanwhile her teammates scored a run in the bottom of the second as Nicole Accomando’s single and stolen base got her in scoring position. Maria Pavese worked out a walk, one of only two issued by Lander, and Accomando scored on an E-6.

Kaufmann’s crew struck again in the fourth inning as Ashley Mangabang got on with a base hit and scored on a double by Pavese. An E-3 allowed the second run to score and the Lady Panthers were right back in, trailing 4-3.

The real drama, however, was yet to unfold. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Anita Stevens drove a ball deep to left field for a triple and scored on a throwing error to third to tie the game.

When Tara Feller reached on an E-6 and moved up on a passed ball, the Lady Panthers had the winning run in scoring position with no outs. But Lander reached down for something extra and struck out Jessica Vinditti, Katy Gonzalez and Diana Accardo to escape doom.

Enlivened by their new life, the Lady Bulldogs overcame being what Ellmauer referred to as “tentative,” and decided to get hits.

They rediscovered the timing they seemed to have lost against Simpson and got the bat on the ball.

Veteran Jennifer Pitz got on with a perfect bunt and a single by Niemann gave the Lady Dawgs runners on first and second. Rachel Houghtaling reached on an E-6 with what would be the game-winning run.

Davies doubled in two more and Julianne Reggero had an RBI single to make it 8-4. Lander iced the cake with an RBI single and then worked around a leadoff walk to Jaclyn Bunce in the bottom of the eighth to retire Accomando, Mangagbang and Pavese to garner the win.

Sullivan West improved to 2-3 while Monticello fell to 1-5. The Panthers have lost several close games this year but like last year, they let this one against Sullivan West escape their grasp.

“It was another close game against them,” said Kaufmann, who added, “We just didn’t get any timely hits in the middle of the lineup.”

Kaufmann was quick to add the positives. “I like the effort from the kids who came in, like Amanda Snyder who played third. She’s a 10th grader and she did a nice job. Jessica Vinditti is a ninth grader, who played right and made a couple of nice plays. Amanda Stevens, who has had a hamstring problem, got a good hit and managed to get around the bases to tie the game. I wish I could get the same kind of effort from more of my players,” he said.

Kaufmann praised junior Simpson’s first-time effort on the mound. “They out-hit us today. I think we probably had only four good hits all day. Lander is a fine pitcher,” he concluded.

Ellmauer was glad to see his team come alive in the eighth inning. “We were ahead from the start, but they got back in with a couple of good timely hits,” he noted. “Sarah pitched a good game. She had six strikeouts and only walked two. In the eighth inning, we decided to score runs after being tentative.” He credited Simpson with a fine pitching performance and seemed surprised that it was her first start.

“She changed her delivery in the middle innings and she threw strikes,” he observed.

The win is apt to be a good tonic for Sullivan West as it came against a Class A school.

Davies had two hits and scored two runs for the Lady Bulldogs and teammate Edwards had two hits and a pair of RBI. Lander abetted her pitching effort with three hits of her own.

Monticello lost to Liberty on May 2 and to Burke on May 4. They were slated to hook up with Sullivan West again in Bulldog Country on May 9. Given their history, expect more drama for that one.

Sullivan West defeated S.S. Seward on May 3, but lost to Cornwall on May 7. The Lady Dawgs were slated to play league rival James I. O’Neill this week, and to host the Lady Panthers for a rematch on May 9.

The fun is just getting started.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game pictures.