By Rob Potter
MONGAUP VALLEY — May 4, 2004 – The Sullivan County Community College softball team ended its 2004 season on Saturday afternoon with a Region XV doubleheader versus Suffolk-West Community College at Edward M. Collins Memorial Park.
In the first game, the Lady Generals posted a dramatic 10-9 victory in extra innings. But Suffolk West won the second game, 7-4.
SCCC’s Jen Wright singled to right field in the bottom of the ninth to bring teammate Carly Sklar in to score the winning run. Earlier in the inning, Sklar hit a bloop single that allowed Kristin Young to score the game-tying run.
After being down 6-0 early in the contest, the Lady Generals stormed back to take a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning. But Suffolk-West scored once in the top of the seventh and held SCCC scoreless in the bottom of the frame to force extra innings.
According to the international tie-breaker rule, the Lady Longhorns and Lady Generals began each respective extra inning with a runner already on second base. In the top of the eighth, that runner, Liz Marquez, scored to put Suffolk-West up 8-7.
In the bottom half of the eighth, SCCC’s Destiny Hinkley scored when the first batter of the frame, Katrina Meyer, singled to center field. But Suffolk-West pitcher Jamie Nedell struck out the next two batters and then caught a hard line-drive off of Young’s bat to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth, Suffolk-West scored once to take a 9-8 lead.
Wright was 2-for-4 in the game with four RBI and Meyer went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and an RBI. Sklar was 3-for-4 and Alesia Rexford went 2-for-5 with two RBI.
Hinkley picked up the win for the Lady Generals.
SCCC’s Lisa Castillo was on base four times in the game after patiently drawing three walks and being hit by a pitch in another at-bat.
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Suffolk-West Takes Game Two
The Lady Generals’ hopes of concluding their season with two straight wins were dashed as Suffolk-West jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings of the second game.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, the Lady Longhorns scored five runs during a two-out rally in the bottom of the second. Keying the rally were Katie Sylvanus and Erica McLean, who hit consecutive RBI doubles.
Down 6-2 heading into the bottom of the third, Sklar had an RBI single and Amber Gray added an RBI double as SCCC narrowed its deficit to 6-4.
Suffolk-West added a run in the sixth to take a three-run lead.
Although the Lady Generals put two runners on base with only one out in the bottom of the seventh, Lady Longhorn pitcher Nedell got two fly ball outs to end the game.
Rexford was 2-for-4, Gray was 2-for-3 and Young was 1-for-2.
With the split of the doubleheader, Suffolk-West finished the regular season with a 11-7 record and will begin play in the Region XV tournament later this week. SCCC ended the spring with an overall record of 6-14 and 6-12 mark in Region XV competition.
“Both teams played great, that was a good game,” Suffolk-West Assistant Coach Sal Trovato said of the afternoon’s nine-inning thriller.
Trovato also praised the Lady Generals for the way they came back to win the contest.
“It would have been great to end the season with two wins, but our players did a great job today,” SCCC Coach Kyle Walter said.
He was also pleased with the overall season.
“It was a good season for our first year back,” said Walter, noting that SCCC did not field a softball team in 2002 and 2003. “This is a great group of kids. They are just good kids and that makes coaching them more enjoyable.”