MAKING THE RIGHT CALL
Kylie Gavitt’s call delivers title for Averill Park softball
MALTA, N.Y. » Averill Park senior pitcher Kylie Gavitt is listed on the Warriors roster as pitcher, but there may be an edit forthcoming, adding the title of ‘Player- Coach’ and a notation to include ‘Architect of 2018 Class A title win.’
It wasn’t a decision of throwing a curve ball or a screwball Tuesday afternoon that earns Gavitt the accolades but a decision made before the Warriors got on the bus to face South Glens Falls in the Class A final at Luther Forest Park and win their third title in four years.
“My biggest concern today was who was pitching,” Averill Park coach Ken Bailey said. “We all got out of school early and I said to Kylie, my senior, ‘ Who’s pitching tonight? She goes, you’ve got to start. Jaydn (Lee) Coach like he did last game. She gets in trouble, bring me in.’”
Even before she threw her first pitch late in the contest, Gavitt delivered the game-winner with her decision as Averill Park handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the year, 2-1 in the Section II final.
“You’ve got to not be selfish with that and I was just thinking for the team, thinking the team,” Kylie Gavitt said. “She throws people off, she works the outside corner and she works a lot.
“I tend to work the outside corner but I also work high and I
know that if she can go as far she can like just holding them, keeping them from scoring runs that when I come in I could use my velocity and it’s going to be a lot easier than if I just tried to go through the whole game and have him just start to hit off me.”
The two pitchers scattered f ive hits, only touched- up by Celyna Shaw’s solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, cutting the Averill Park lead, 2-1, but Gavitt was there to close out the contest.
A two- out triple by No. 8 hitter Jess Haskin drove in Abbey Nagel who reached after being hit by a pitch with No. 9 batter Jessica Farley knocking in the eventual game-winner with her RBI single in the top of the second inning.
The decision by Gavitt to defer to Lee wasn’t just about mixing up the looks to the Bulldogs; it was also about big-game experience.
“I got injured last year towards the end of the year, so she was able to come in and she was very strong and finished off the season for us,” Gavitt said. “We went to the regionals, which is a big deal to do with only one pitcher and so I think that that was part of the reason.
“I was just thinking about how we’ve worked throughout this whole season. When I finish off, it just becomes a lot stronger with her starting. We work as a team, it’s a duo.”
Bailey had a lot of praise for his team and his league after the title re- match with South Glens Falls.
“Pitching, defense and playing in the in the Suburban Council, that prepares you for this trip for when we move on,” Bailey said. “We play the best teams all the time.
We’ve got Columbia. Colonie, Guilderland, Bethlehem, Saratoga. Every day it’s a game, you know, and we kind of got hot in the end.”
Great minds think alike as Gavitt wholehearted agreed with her skipper.
“Playing the Suburban Council, you have kids who are going to college, you have kids who train all year round and you’re just facing the best,” Gavitt said. “I think playing with all this good talent around here just helps us win these games.”
The Bulldogs embraced a chance to meet the War- rior again in the finals and hoped for a different outcome after last year’s extrainning loss.
“They wanted us, they had an article in the paper this year that said we want to get back to play Averill Park again,” Bailey said. “They wanted us and we wanted them and I really believe the two best teams in the A’s squared off today. We were fortunate enough to come out with the win on this one.”
Averill Park will host Section III champion Jamesville- Dewitt 4: 30 p. m. Thursday at the Luther Forest Fields in Malta with the winner facing Section X’s Malone 2 p.m. Saturday at SUNY Potsdam in the NYSPHSAA quarterfinal.