By Rob Potter
ELDRED — April 13, 2010 — Outstanding pitching by Marissa Diescher and an ability to get timely hits and sacrifices propelled the visiting Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats to a 10-1 win over the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets on Friday in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI softball game.
Diescher, a junior, allowed just one hit while striking out 16 batters to earn the complete-game victory.
Tomara Bodnaruik recorded that hit for the Lady Yellowjackets when she beat out an infield grounder to lead off the bottom of the fifth.
Manor (1-1, 1-0 Div. VI) was also able to execute a number of sacrifice bunts which either moved runners into scoring position or allowed them to cross home plate.
Eldred (0-2, 0-1 Div. VI) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Lauren Hazen struck out but reached first base when the ball eluded Manor catcher Victoria Taggart. The next batter, Kelsey Ferguson, hit a grounder back to Diescher. But Diescher’s throw to first base was errant, which allowed Hazen to advance to third base and Ferguson to reach second base.
Heather Ouellette then struck out, but the ball was dropped. Taggart quickly fielded the ball and fired it to first baseman Emily Casey to force out Ouellette. Hazen was able to cross home plate on the play to put the Lady Yellowjackets the scoreboard.
The Lady Wildcats tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second inning. With runners on first and second, Brittanie Fredenburg singled to center field to bring Angela Zayas in to score.
Manor took a 4-1 lead in the top of the third. Casey walked to lead off the inning and scored moments later when Christine Babich reached base on an error. Taggart then scored when Eldred pitcher Alexis Pierce was called for a balk.
Babich scored when Zayas hit a ground ball which bounced off of Hazen’s glove.
Taggart earned an RBI in the top of the fifth inning when she grounded out and Samantha Scott scored on the play.
The Lady Wildcats extended their lead to 6-1 in the top of the fifth. Zayas began the frame with a walk and moved to third base on sacrifices by Fredenburg and Sarah Reigal. Scott then hit a ground ball to Eldred third baseman Ferguson, who saw Zayas break for home and quickly threw the ball to catcher Jill Harris. But Zayas slid under Harris’ glove to score a run.
Manor completed the scoring with four runs in the top of the seventh. With one out, Scott scored on Casey’s bunt single.
After Diescher walked to load the bases, Taggart sent Maggi Calo, Casey and Diescher all home by ripping a double to left field.
Manor Co-Coach Charlie Hicks praised Taggart for recording a team-high four RBIs in the game.
“I thought we did a good job in sacrifice situations today,” Hicks said. “Last season, we couldn’t take advantage of a lot of those chances. Today, we were able to get those sacrifice bunts to move runners into scoring position and get some runs.
“Samantha Scott and Maggi Calo both had a couple of RBIs for us,” Hicks added.
“Our ability to make sacrifice bunts was a big difference today,” Manor Co-Coach Kevin Clifford said.
Hicks was pleased to see the team record a victory over the Lady Yellowjackets.
“This was a good division win for us,” he commented. “We only have four division games, so every one of them counts. Eldred has a good team and they played hard.”
Eldred Coach Kelly Doherty noted that “both teams played a good game.
“We had too many fielding errors today,” she said.
However, Doherty was able to find a positive aspect of the game.
“Our batters were making contact against Marissa [Diescher],” she said. “They know that she’s not unhitable. That is a confidence builder for us.”