Section Nine Class B Semifinals

Heat stroke

Sullivan West’s best postseason run ended

by Pine Plains comeback assault

By RICHARD A. ROSS

richardross@riverreporter.com

PINE PLAINS, NY - The day’s sweltering heat was a crucible out of which something special was about to materialize, as feisty Sullivan West traveled the seemingly endless journey to Pine Plains to encounter a former foe.

One of these two teams was destined to reach the hallowed ground of the Section 9 Class B finals; the other was to have its season of merit ended one step away from a chance to win it all.

The game that began with a first- inning onslaught by Sullivan West and ended with a resolute response from the Lady Bombers’ 10-4 win is the crux of this story, but how these teams arrived under the blazing sun on May 31 is a requisite preamble to that telling.

Last year, the Lady Bulldogs faced Pine Plains hurler Abby Harpp twice. The first time, she threw a 7-0 perfect game on an early April afternoon, dazzling Sullivan West in the newness of the season with its host of inexperienced players. But by the time the two teams met again, on May 30, 2006 in the Class B quarterfinals, Harpp and her teammates found themselves locked in a pitched two-two tie with coach Mike Ellmauer’s team that had matured and hardened off in the intervening weeks.

That game played at Sullivan West ended with a 3-2 eight-inning win by the Lady Bombers, a team still in the throes of coming into its own. Marlboro ended Pine Plains’ short postseason jubilation shortly thereafter and the Lady Bombers ended up with a .500 record. Sullivan West took solace in having made it to sectionals, and looked forward to this year as a chance to move forward from there.

It looked for a while like that might not happen.

Sullivan West’s season was played out in two acts. Ellmauer described the opening one as being marked by conflict, inconsistency and distractions. By the time the second act began, the Lady Bulldogs found their bite and reeled off impressive wins against defending champ John S. Burke, O’Neill and Liberty to reach the sectionals. They then hammered fourth-seeded Highland 8-1 to reach this semifinal against Pine Plains, the 12th-ranked Class B team in the state. Even before the first pitch, the team had accomplished something no Sullivan West softball team had done before.

Number-five seeded Sullivan West came into this game as the underdog, The Pine Plains Lady Bombers, a team that had morphed from a middle-of-the-road squad into something special, sported a 20-5 record with its only losses against Class AA FDR (twice), Class A Saugerties and Rondout Valley and Class C Albany Area power Duanesberg. According to first-year coach Les Funk, they had also proven their resiliency by coming back from large deficits early to beat rivals Rhinebeck and Highland.

All year, the Lady Bombers showed they could hit, play defense behind its ace hurler and not lose their composure if they got behind. Such experience would prove to be money in the bank when it came to postseason play and Pine Plains was able to draw on that reserve to back up a shaky Harpp, who walked a trio of Lady Bulldogs on her way to staking Sullivan West to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Sullivan West had Harpp on the ropes all right. Ginger Pierce opened the big inning by reaching on an E-5. A passed ball got her to second and Jennifer Pitz executed a perfect sac bunt to get her to third. A trio of walks and a single by Cara Davies combined to allow Pierce, Kristen Niemann, Rachel Houghtaling and Stephanie Meyer to score what would be Sullivan West’s only runs.

Sarah Lander, coming off her three-hit gem against nemesis Highland, retired Pine Plains in the first inning. But troubles began in the second when Sullivan West’s defense committed a trio of errors that went along with a walk issued to Jackie Inserillo and a booming homer by Jessalyn Sweeney to allow five runs to score with two outs to wipe out the Lady Bulldogs early advantage.

Harpp, emboldened by her team’s affirmative support, got into a groove with her fastball and drop pitch, while her fielders played flawless defense the rest of the way. She scattered four hits over the final six innings, allowing singles to Niemann, Davies, Houghtaling and Meyer while striking out six.

Pine Plains scored two more runs in the third inning as Inserillo and Nicole Killmer came across the plate, once again with two outs, to give Pine Plains a 7-4 lead.

They built that up to a 9-4 margin in the fourth as Sweeney went yard again, and a couple of miscues allowed Melissa Lewis to score. The final run came in the fifth when Killmer walked, moved up on a fielder’s choice and came home on a single by Skyar Nuccio.

Following the game, Ellmauer said, “We got off to a great start but somehow we couldn’t maintain our momentum. Their hitting hurt us. A lot of balls found their way into the gaps and we had a couple of lapses that we haven’t had in awhile. Even though we played well at times in this game, they were able to take advantage of our mistakes.”

“It was a good season, although we had way too many distractions at the beginning. But the kids held together and we won the games we had to win during a really tough three-week period. We knew Pine Plains would be quality so now we’ll look forward to March 6 of next year,” said the coach.

Sullivan West ended its season at 8-10.

Funk was reminded of an early season division game in which Highland jumped on his team to take an early 5-0 lead and came back to win. They did the same to come back from a 5-0 deficit to beat Rhinebeck 7-6 in a non-league game. “We have a great defense behind Abby and even though she wasn’t at the top of her game, she knows if she doesn’t walk batters and allows the ball to be put into play that things will work out.”

“Sullivan West is a group of tough kids and the last thing you want to do is spot teams like that a big lead. But we can hit and that’s always in the back of our minds,” said Funk.

In the finals, Pine Plains was ousted 6-0 by Marlboro, who beat Burke in the semi-finals.

Visit riverrportersports.com for an album of Sullivan West-Pine Plains pictures.