Lady Ganders soar over Liberty, 8-1, in sectional quarterfinal

TED WADDELL
Posted 6/7/17

ACCORD, NY — The third-ranked Lady Ganders of Rondout Valley (13-4 overall, 10-3 league) almost had a shutout in a Section IX Class B softball quarterfinal on Tuesday afternoon, May 23. But in …

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Lady Ganders soar over Liberty, 8-1, in sectional quarterfinal

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ACCORD, NY — The third-ranked Lady Ganders of Rondout Valley (13-4 overall, 10-3 league) almost had a shutout in a Section IX Class B softball quarterfinal on Tuesday afternoon, May 23.

But in the bottom of the seventh, the sixth-seeded Liberty Lady Indians (5-7 overall, 4-2 league) staged a one-run rally to end the afternoon’s scoring with an 8-1 win for Rondout Valley.

Tori Decker, Rondout Valley’s 16-year-old junior pitcher, earned the win with her change-up style, which showcased “my best pitch, the drop ball.”

“The changeup,” she replied when asked about her major strength up on the mound.

Liberty’s sophomore hurler Katy Decker was tagged with the loss.

“I think we worked very hard this season… we can move on to next year,” said the 16-year-old sophomore Lady Indians pitcher.

“We played a hard game… a lot of good things are coming for Liberty softball.”

Rondout Valley’s big inning was the first frame, as the Lady Ganders sent three runners (Mackenzie Fischer, Gigi Koch and Makaylah Mutz) scurrying across the plate, followed by solo runs in the second (Victoria Somer), fifth (Jessica Kreck, fueled by a  Fischer triple) and sixth (by Lauren Parete and Kreck).

In the final frame, the Lady Ganders looked like they were headed for a shutout on the all-dirt infield.

Then it was Liberty’s turn at bat.

With runners at second and third, Olivia Rachette rocketed a line drive through the middle to drive in Camryn England, which ended Rondout Valley’s dreams of blanking the Lady Indians.

“We had a great season,” said Liberty coach Matt Stoddard.

His take on the year-ending loss?

“Our bats didn’t come alive until the seventh inning,” he said. “We’re usually a strong hitting team… their pitcher mixed them up well.”

Rob Fischer, coach of the Lady Ganders said the highlight of the game was the first inning, as they firmly set the tone of the battle with three runs.

“We came out of the box swinging and got some good hits.”

His view of the 2017 season?

“It was a great season… we’ve had our highs and we’ve had our lows… our biggest hang-up is being consistent,” replied Fischer.

But in the final analysis, a seven-run sectional win is pretty good by anybody’s standards.

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