Pine Plains advances to state final four

Pine Plains is headed to the state softball final four, but defending state Class B champion Marlboro is not.

The Bombers earned their first trip to the final four in nine years as they edged East Rockaway, 3-2, in a Class C regional final.

Marlboro was dethroned by Babylon, 16-0, in a B regional final on Long Island. Pine Plains 3, East Rockaway 2

At Rhinebeck, Tia Fumasoli’s heads-up base running gave the Bombers a variation of a walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh.

With the game tied 2-2, she reached on a leadoff bunt single, went all the way to third on Sarah Carver’s one-out grounder to short, then scored the game-winner on a wild pitch.

It will be the first time in the final four for Pine Plains since 2008, when it reached the Class B semifi-

nals. The (17-4) Bombers will play Section’s 2 Greenville at 9 a.m. Saturday at Moreau Recreational Park in South Glens Falls. If the Bombers win, they play for the state title at 1:30 p.m.

Fumasoli’s heroics were needed after Emily Chelius hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to tie the game.

East Rockaway reached the state semifinals last year.

Haley Strang had given Pine Plains the early lead with an RBI single in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the sixth. Babylon 16, Marlboro 0

At Patchogue, the Dukes’ tremendous season came to a close as Babylon scored in each of the first five innings and pitcher Allie Stanya threw a one-hitter.

Babylon set the tone in the first as it scored four runs on consecutive doubles from

Gwen Donaldson, Emily Bell and Danielle Donaldson.

Stanya, who struck out eight of the first nine batters she faced, carried a no-hitter into the sixth when seventhgrader Kasey Conn singled to spoil the bid. Conn’s twoout, two-run double gave the Dukes a 5-4 comeback win over Valhalla in the regional semis on Thursday.

Marlboro, which lost eight starters from last year’s state championship team, finished with a 15-8 record and as Section 9 champions.