Austin Bedevils Manor

By Rob Potter
ROSCOE — May 12, 2000 -- The Roscoe Lady Blue Devil softball team did not have one “big” inning in Tuesday’s Western Sullivan League (WSL) game versus visiting Livingston Manor.
But the Lady Blue Devils (6–4, 4–3 WSL) scored at least a pair of runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give pitcher Danielle Austin all of the support she would need. Austin allowed only two hits and recorded her third win of the season as the Lady Blue Devils defeated the Lady Wildcats by a 10-4 margin.
“Danielle pitched very well,” noted Roscoe coach Pete DeVantier. “Anytime a girl pitches all seven innings, she’s doing a good job.”
With a 5-0 lead in the fifth, Roscoe added to its advantage. Pam Buck stepped to the plate and hit the ball just over first base — and inside the foul line by mere inches. That allowed Crystal Evans to score for a 6-0 lead.
Following a walk to Mary Kate Johnston that put runners on the corners — Buck had already stolen both second and third base — Staci Fersch ripped a double to left field to plate both Buck and Johnston.
Down 8-0, Manor (2–7, 2–5 WSL) mounted a rally in the top of the sixth. A double by Amanda Irwin put runners of second and third, as Megan Blanton had walked earlier in the inning. After a strikeout for the second out of the frame, Alys Mann walked to load the bases.
Audra Cady then hit a high infield pop fly that was dropped, allowing Blanton and Irwin to score. Manor scored one more run before Austin struck out Cassie Schneider to end the threat.
“Basically, we couldn’t get our hitting going,” said Manor coach Gail Denman. “We made a couple of bad errors in the early innings to let them get going. Roscoe just scored a couple of runs each inning and they added up.”
Denman noted that Mann did a nice job on the mound and has been improving. Manor’s main starting pitcher, Jennifer Wright — younger sister of former Lady Wildcat standout Jessica Wright — suffered a knee injury last week and has not yet returned to action.
Irwin and Ellison each went 1-for-3 with a triple to pace the Manor attack.
Austin helped her own cause with a triple. Buck went 2-for-3 and Becky Evans was 3-for-3 for the Lady Blue Devils.
“We’ve been getting a lot better offensively as the season moves along,” DeVantier commented. “Today, we played excellent.”