By Ted Waddell
ELDRED — May 5, 2006 – The Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats came out swinging in Wednesday’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI softball game against the host Eldred Lady Yellowjackets.
As a result, the Lady Wildcats grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Eldred (2-3, 1-3 Division VI) tied the contest with a run in the bottom of first. In the bottom of the second, the Lady Yellowjackets scored another run to take a 2-1 lead.
Manor (3-6, 1-2 Division VI) scored four runs in the top of the third to extend its advantage to 6-1. But Eldred closed the gap by recording a run in the bottom of the frame.
Going into the top of the fourth, the Lady Wildcats held a 5-3 lead.
Manor added three runs later in the game and withstood an Eldred comeback attempt on the way to posting a 8-7 win.
The visitors sent two runners across the plate in the fourth, but the Lady Yellowjackets came up empty during their turn at bat in the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Manor went scoreless, while Eldred picked up a run.
Manor didn’t score at its turn at bat in the sixth, but the Lady Yellowjackets looked like they were going to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, as they scored three runs.
Paulina Renggli got on base with a single and Kim Henry moved her over to second.
Renggli scored on a hit by Lori Henry, a swat that was aided by an error. Henry then stole her way around the bases and purloined home to pull the Lady Yellowjackets within a run (7-6).
Pinch runner Sara Bisland stole second and third bases. Moments later, she scored the game-tying run on an RBI single by Sam Alessandra.
Neither team scored in the seventh, sending the contest into extra innings. Manor scored a run in the top of the eighth and then held Eldred scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to earn the one-run win.
Manor pitcher Dana Manell (2-6) earned the win, while Eldred’s Ashley Tice (2-2) got tagged with the loss.
“The team played together and they were aggressive up at bat,” Manor Coach Sue Zieres said.
“That’s what gave us the win, being aggressive,” she added.
Veteran Eldred Coach Jolene Porter said that her players “fought hard as a team, kept working and didn’t quit.”
“We made a few too many mental errors… but with six ninth-graders that’s the way it is,” Porter said.
The Lady Yellowjackets’ only senior is Kim Hallock. The rest of the team is comprised of four juniors, a couple of sophomores and those six freshmen to whom Porter alluded.