Shen walks off vs. Colonie
CLIFTONPARK, N.Y. >> A walk-off by single down the third baseline by Shenendehowa’s Sophia Caputo in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Plainsmen an 11-10 win over No. 4 ranked Colonie Monday afternoon.
“I just wanted to make good contact, solid contact, hit it hard and hope that it found a hole,” Caputo said about her game-winning single that scored Kira Konarski and Amaya Vlacich for the game-winner.
Konarski and Vlacich both reached on singles up the middle before walking deep threat Nicole McCarvill to load the bases with one out.
“I knew they were working inside-outside and they were all playing in, so I was trying to find a hole and I like that hole,” Caputo said.
There was no home field advantage for Shenendehowa as the swirling, gusting winds gave way to four home runs on the afternoon, two for each side and left the Plainsmen in a 7-1 deficit through the first four innings.
“You always have to have faith,” Shenendehowa pitcher Nicole McCarvill said. “You have to have faith in your teammates, faith in what you can do. We practice every day, so we know how to do it. We’ve come back from more and we’ve come back more often so we know how to do it.”
McCarvill saw the Garnet Raiders plate seven runs in the first four innings, including a three-runhome run by Liana Phillips in the top of the first inning to give Colonie a 4-0 lead. Mikayla Luskin then tacked on two more runs with her windaided, two-out home run in the top of the third for a 6-1 Raider lead.
The No. 21 ranked Plainsmen made it a contest with a four-run fifth inning when Caputo drove in Vlachich and McCarvill to start
the rally. Olivia Murray then Olivia Murray delivered her own strike beyond the fence to plate Caputo. “I’ve been waiting for that all season, it felt so good coming off the bat,” Olivia Murray said. “It was right inside, I just got out in front of it and I swung as hard as I could and the ball did the rest of the job.”
With the lead cut, 7-5, Colonie scratched out another run before Shenendehowa took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth. Konarski led off with a double down the left field line and scored on a triple by Vlacich to cut the lead, 8-6. McCarville then helped herself with a shot over the centerfield field fence, a two-run home run to knot the game at eight apiece.
Cailey Cuttita followed with shot to centerfield, at the fence that the fielder dropped allowing her to reach second. Emily Carroll came on as a courtesy runner and immediately scored on Murray’s RBI double to left field for the 9-8 lead. The Raiders would not go away, scoring two runs on Lexi Szesnat’s two-run double in the top of the seventh, putting the pressure on the Plainsmen to deliver in their final at-bats.