COLONIE TOPS COLUMBIA IN EXTRA INNINGS
COLONIE, N.Y. » A Suburban Council softball showdown between the Columbia Blue Devils and Colonie Garnet Raiders lived up to the hype. Neither squad was yielding an inch until a walk off two-run double by third baseman Myaisha Kelly, provided the Garnet Raiders with a 4-3 victory in the tenth.
“Well, she [ Maddie Burns] was pitching outside the whole game so I was just kind of looking for that pitch and kind of just driving it and hoping to get in a run,” Kelly said of her approach on her game winning double. “Just wait for the ball, go that out that way, I was going that way the whole game and finally it got in to where it needed to be,” Kelly said, after nearly giving Colonie the lead with a lineout smash to right with two down and one on in the fifth.
“It happened so fast, there’s not really much to go on. With Lindsey’s [Podlaski] bunt, Podlaski came in and had a great bunt for up to get Lexi [Alexis Szesnat] over. I gave Myaisha on the first pitch a fake bunt steal, to get the other runner there, because I knew a base hit we’ve got to win this game,” Colonie head coach Kevin Jette said of how the final inning played out. “She’s a gamer, her focus, she’s locked in and she loves playing and I think that’s what’s beneficial for her, she doesn’t really feel that pressure.”
Indeed, the Garnet Raiders didn’t appear to be phased by an early 2- 0 deficit in the first frame. Columbia’s Taylor O’Brien smacked a solo shot to
left center, off Shea Peckowitz, giving the Blue Devils an early advantage. Later in the frame, a Missy Daigneault RBI-double posted the Blue Devils to a 2- 0 lead.
Colonie scrapped back in the second stanza. Ciana Phillips singled to set the table. Ensuing batter Darianna Rescinti doubled to right, placing runners in scoring position. Peckowitz helped her own cause with a bunt, as Phillips darted home, cutting the lead in half and the Garnet Raiders had runners at the corners. Awild pitch would enable Rescinti to score and square the contest at two.
“We knew coming it was going to be a hard game. Maddie Burns is a fabulous pitcher,” Kelly said. “We knew we were going to have to hit, were going
to have to put down bunts, execute everything we needed to do.”
As the game wore on, it was clear neither Burns, the Hofstra bound senior, nor Peckowitz was giving up anything easy.
“This is the game you want to play in,” Columbia head coach Chris Ciccone said of the level of play. “The girls played well. We struggled a little bit early defensively, we gave up a couple of runs but they didn’t hang their heads, they came back in, did what they needed to do to hang around, went to extra innings, we were able to put up one.”
That run in the tenth came by virtue of a Meg Dougherty RBI- single off Carly Gemmett
, giving the Blue Devils a 3-2 edge.
However, Columbia wasn’t quite able to really break the game open the way they would’ve liked to.
“Tip your hat to Colonie,
that’s just great hitting by Myaisha Kelly,” Ciccone said. They got their runner in scoring position, we weren’t able to do that effectively, we left the bases loaded but it’s a learning experience.”
“We’ve got two more games to play. We have to play well in those two games. We’ll see what we do in those,” Ciccone said looking ahead at the remaining schedule. “At the end of the season we’ll go to the seeding meeting and we’ll get ready for the postseason.”
Coach Jette chalked up his team’s focus as the key to pulling out a prolonged battle of attrition.
“They knew this was going to be a competitive game. They kept their focus coming off a loss on Wednesday. That kind of stuff can be contagious,” Jette said. “We had a great practice yesterday, great outing with the team and I think that focus was what
kept them through ten innings of ball. That’s kind of what we preached to them after the Averill Park loss, yesterday our practice was just to bring it all back in and keep that focus.”
“They never cease to amaze, they keep themselves in it, they have a good time, they play hard,” Jette said. “I think going back to that focus point, that’s what their main goal has been all season is to keep each other in it, be good teammates, etc. I think that’s what we’re going to ride into the end of the season next week and in the playoffs.”
With both squads zeroing in on the postseason, and the playoff picture coming more into focus, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if these two squared off again down the line. Columbia 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 1 -3 5
0
Colonie 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 -49 2