By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — May 22, 2001 – It was not ideal softball weather last Friday afternoon when OCIAA Division IV foes Tri-Valley and host Sullivan West/Jeffersonville-Youngsville met for the second time this season.
With gloomy gray clouds lurking in the sky and a light to moderate mist falling throughout the contest, SW/J-Y managed just a bit more offense to record a 5-2 victory in the OCIAA Division IV contest.
The Lady Trojans grabbed a 3-0 lead after two innings and maintained that advantage behind the pitching of Christina Winski. The junior hurler allowed only a pair of runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two.
Kristen Erlwein lead off the bottom of the first with a double and scored later in the inning on a fielder’s choice. Tri-Valley third baseman Ellie Dymond tried to get Erlwein at the plate on that ground ball, but her throw to catcher Alesia Rexford was just late.
SW/J-Y (9–5, 7–4 OCIAA) scored two more runs in the second. Tiffany Hauser, who walked to lead off the frame, came home on a passed ball and Shelisa Duquette, who singled after Hauser walked, scored on a groundout.
Tri-Valley (15–3, 7–2 OCIAA) got on the board in the third inning. With two outs, Heidi Manell, the Lady Bear pitcher, helped herself by smashing a triple to left field. Julie Donovan then followed with a single to bring Manell home and cut the SW/J-Y lead to 3-1. (On the mound, Manell gave up only six hits, walked two and struck out four batters.)
In the fourth, the Lady Trojans added a pair of insurance runs. An RBI double by Linnea O’Mara brought Hauser to the plate and O’Mara scored on an infield error one batter later.
Dymond accounted for the other Tri-Valley run when she singled in the fifth and later scored on an error.
“We were baffled again today,” Tri-Valley coach Mary Feusner said of Winski’s performance. “We have been baffled twice by this pitcher.”
While it was clear Winski kept the Tri-Valley hitters off-balance, Feusner was at a loss to explain just why the SW/J-Y hurler kept her hitters in check Friday — and on May 2, when SW/J-Y rallied for an 8-7 win.
“We had runners on base every inning except the third,” Feusner commented. “We had trouble getting the timely hit.”
For his part, SW/J-Y coach Mike Ellmauer thought that two things accounted for his team’s victory.
“Yesterday in practice we tried a different approach and the kids really responded,” Ellmauer said. “It was also the last home game for the seniors, so that was little bit of an incentive [to win].”
(Those SW/J-Y seniors Ellmauer referred to are Amanda Davis, Erlwein and O’Mara.)
“The kids played well today,” he added. “Tri-Valley is always good and we always seem to play close games against them.”
Ellmauer also praised his fellow coaches, Lynda Bracken and Anthony Durkin, for their help in guiding a relatively young Lady Trojan team through the season.
SW/J-Y was slated to visit Liberty for a non-league game yesterday and finish its OCIAA Division IV schedule tomorrow at S.S. Seward.
Despite the loss, Feusner wasn’t going to dwell on the day’s events.
“We can’t change the outcome of this,” she said, adding that her team still occupies first place in the Division IV standings.
Like SW/J-Y, Tri-Valley finishes its regular season schedule this week. The Lady Bears were slated to host Fallsburg yesterday and be at home tomorrow to face Chester before playing at Tuxedo on Thursday.