The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Stockbridge doubles up against DeRuyter
The Stockbridge Valley softball team had a tough outing in its last game played prior to Tuesday night’s doubleheader against DeRuyter.
Stockbridge Valley ace Alaina Beane was knocked around by a potent Oriskany lineup, and to compound matters, the Cougar bats went silent in a 16-1 loss.
Chris Peto’s Cougars found their groove again on Tuesday.
Beane stepped back into the pitcher’s circle and was dialed in, earning a win in the first game and positioning the Cougars for a win in the second. Beane hit the doubledigit strikeout mark in the first game, fanning 10 DeRuyter batters in a one-hit, 3-0 shut- out. In the second game, she worked two innings, striking out five without giving before handing the ball off to teammate Kelly Greene.
The Stockbridge bats provided plenty of run support, putting three across in the first game before carrying that momentum over to the second game for a 12-run outburst. Eighth-grader Jill Jacobs went 5-of-6 across the two games, driving in a trio of runs along with a double and triple. Madeline Cross went 2-of-3 three with a pair of RBI and four walks to help set the table for Cougar hitters in the win.
“Across the board for the entire team, we got knocked down on Friday. We needed to dust ourselves off and get back up, and today I think we did that,” Peto said. “Offensively, we were more aggressive. And
that has been a big work in progress for us just trying to get the bats going.”
“Offensively, we need to continue to get better. I think we took a step in the right direction. First game was tight, bats started to get going at the end and we carried it over to the second game.”
Game 1
The first tilt of the afternoon was largely a pitchers’ duel between Beane and DeRuyter counterpart Tayler Marshal.
Beane opened the contest with back- to- back strikeouts before giving up her only hit of the night to DeRuyter No. 3 hitter Elaina Stafford. The Cougar started shook off the hit to catch Madison Russell looking at strike three to end the frame.
Marshal struck out the first batter she faced before running into some trouble in the bottom half of the first. Madeline Cross reached on an error followed by a Jacobs’ single to put two runners on with one out. Marshal got out of the early jam by inducing a fly ball out from Beane before striking out Markaylynn Eaton to keep the game tied 0-0.
Beane struck out two more in the top of the second, but Marshal was up to the task, striking out two and keeping the home team off the board in the second. Stockbridge got things going in the third. Cross drew a one-out walk and scored when the next batter, Jacobs, laced a double. Jacobs stole third base and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Beane for a 2- 0 Cougar advantage.
Stockbridge tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth when Ashley Wilson singled, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a an RBI single by Cross. Beane set down DeRuyter in order in the top of the fifth, ending the game on back-to-back strikeouts, to close out the 3-0 win.
Game 2
The Cougars jumped all over Marshall to open the second game. Leadoff batter Ashley Wilson reached on a hit-by-pitch followed by a Madeline Cross walk. Jacobs drove in Stockbridge Valley’s first run on a single, and Beane clobbered a double to score Cross and Jacobs for a 3-0 lead. Sierra Tucci kept the rally going with a single to plate Beane. Barbara Guinto followed with a two-out walk before Nevaeh Randal ripped an RBI single to bring the Cougar lead to 5-0.
Peto’s side went right back to work in the top of the second after a scoreless frame from Beane. Cross walked again. Jacobs walloped an RBI triple to right field to score Cross for a 6- 0 lead, and Beane followed with an RBI single to score Jacobs for an 8- 0 lead.
“She has always been aggressive at the plate and always hits the ball hard,” Peto said of Jacobs’ approach. “She’s fundamentally sound, so she will rarely pop a ball up.”
Beane appeared to tire a bit in the bottom half of the second, walking consecutive batters after punching out the first batter to put two aboard with one out and elicit a trip to the circle by Peto. The brief visit appeared to do the trick however, and Beane responded by striking out the next two batters to get out of the inning.
The Cougars added an- other run in the top of the third on a Madeline Cross RBI single that scored Randal for a 9-0 lead, before Kelly Greene came in to spell Beane. The Rockets plated two runs in Greene’s first inning of work, and threatened again in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs, but Greene struck out DeRuyter No. 3 hitter Madison Russell to exit the inning.
Stockbridge added three more runs in the final top half inning, but Greene had all the run support she needed, retiring three out of four Rocket batters to close the contest 11-2.
The Cougars improve to 5-0 in CCL play and 6-1 on the year with the back-toback wins and will take on McGraw on Friday.
DeRuyter falls to 0-3 and will take on McGraw on Thursday.
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