By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — May 2, 2003 – The Sullivan West softball team used a pair of two-out rallies Tuesday afternoon to record a victory.
SW scored three runs with two outs in the fourth inning and two runs with two outs in the fifth to post a 5-3 victory over visiting John S. Burke Catholic in an OCIAA Division III game.
Burke (3-6, 2-3 Division III) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Kristin Said.
But the Lady Bulldogs responded in the fourth. Leslie Bright led off the frame with a single and then stole second base. Bright moved to third on a bunt by Rachel Peloquin. Heather Nober then beat out an infield grounder that allowed Bright to tie the game at 1-1.
After Nober stole second base, Amanda Patterson legged out a ground ball to put runners at the corners. Jessica Lederman then ripped a double to right field that scored both Nober and Patterson and gave SW a 3-1 lead.
SW (2-2, 2-2 Division III) added to its lead in the fifth. With one out, Katrina Meyer beat out an infield grounder. After Bright grounded out, Tiffany Hauser reached base when she was hit by a pitch.
With Peloquin batting, Bright and Hauser executed a double steal which gave the Lady Bulldogs a 4-1 advantage when Bright safely crossed home plate. Peloquin subsequently hit a ground ball that could have been the final out of the inning, but a Burke error allowed Hauser to score.
The Lady Eagles rallied for a pair of runs in the sixth inning.
Erica Arborn and Kasey Edwards each reached base with an infield hit and Mary Kate Walker earned a base on balls from SW pitcher Erin Rosenberger to load the bases with only one out.
Heather Holmes then smacked an infield hit to bring Arborn to the plate and make it a 5-2 game. The next batter, Diana Polli, grounded out but Edwards scored on the play to narrow the Lady Bulldog lead to two runs.
Rosenberger then got Michelle Bianchetti to hit a ground ball to second to end the inning.
“We were able to get some hits with runners on base today,” SW Co-Coach John Meyer said. “We didn’t give up on at-bats and got a lot of two-out hits. We’re happy to get a win. A win is a win and we’ll take one any way we can get it.”
While timely hits were integeral to the Lady Bulldogs’ victory, so was the pitching performance of Rosenberger. She gave up only three hits and struck out five to earn the win.
Rosenberger also worked out of two tough situations late in the game. With one out in the fifth inning, Holmes singled and Rosenberger walked the next two batters to load the bases. But she came back to strike out the next pair of Lady Eagle batters and end the scoring threat.
After recording two quick outs in the seventh, a walk and errors allowed Burke to load the bases. However, Rosenberger struck out Walker to end the game.
“Erin did a nice job today,” said Meyer, who shares the SW coaching duties with Mike Ellmauer. “This is her first year on the varsity level and she’s improving. She’ll keep us in games this season.”
Burke Coach Steve Douthit didn’t hesitate to answer when asked about the key to the game.
“We just left too many runners on base,” he said. “We had chances to score a few runs in three different innings. We must have stranded at least 10 runners on base today.”