By Lori Brown
GRAHAMSVILLE — April 30, 2010 — The Tri-Valley Lady Bears hosted the S.S. Seward Lady Spartans on Tuesday in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V game.
The Lady Bears walked away with a 15-10 victory on the very chilly, spring afternoon.
Seward (2-6, 0-4 Div. V) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shannon O’Sullivan slammed a double to right field and earned two RBIs as Caitlin Lemire and Jenn Pomella came home.
O’Sullivan stole third base and scored when the throw to third was errant.
T-V also had a great start offensively as the team scored runs in the bottom of the first.
Lauren Jones had a base hit to bring home teammate Rachel Adriaans. Karyn Sheeley singled and took second base when the throw went to home plate, where Christina Neist was safe. Liz Bracken reached first base due to another Lady Spartans’ error, which also allowed Jones and Sheeley to score.
The Lady Bears extended their lead in the bottom of the second. Jacque Rodriguez scored on a single by Neist and Adriaans crossed home plate on a wild pitch. Jones slammed a double to left field to bring home Neist.
Sarah Thilberg reached base on an error and Jones and Erin Smith both scored on the miscue to give T-V a 9-3 advantage.
The Lady Spartans reduced their deficit in the top of the third. O’Sullivan grounded out to bring home Lemire. Susie Collins hit a single to score Pomella, which made it a 9-5 game.
In the bottom of the third, Seward pitcher Alyse Space did a great job. She recorded a strikeout to help prevent the Lady Bears from adding to their lead.
The Lady Spartans continued to chip away at the T-V advantage. In the top of the fourth, Lady Bears pitcher Jones recorded a strikeout with two outs. But the catcher dropped the ball and the batter reached first base safely. Collins came home on the error, which cut the T-V advantage to 9-6.
Seward had some big hits in the top of the fifth. Kari Ward belted a three-run, home run to deep right field. Collins, Amanda Tantillo and Ward scored on the round tripper to even the score at 9-9.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Bears hit a few singles to get on the bases. Adriaans crossed home plate on a passed ball and Neist scored on home after a dead ball.
Erin Smith singled and took advantage of an open base to safely reach second base. Sheeley then singled to bring home Courtney Kelly, who was pinch running for Jones, and Smith.
Sheeley’s two-run hit gave the Lady Bears a 13-9 lead.
Pomella led off the top of the sixth by belting a home run to deep left field to bring the Lady Spartans within three runs at 13-10.
In the bottom of the sixth, all three Seward batters hit ground balls to Sheeley, the T-V shortstop. Each time, Sheeley threw the ball to first baseman Smith to record the out.
T-V’s Samantha Martin and Adriaans crossed the plate in the bottom of the sixth to give their team a 15-10 advantage.
“We had way too many errors,” Seward Coach Don Lewis said. “T-V out played us. T-V’s shortstop [Karyn Sheeley] played great.
“T-V battled to the end,” he added.
T-V Coach Mary Feusner said, “I loved this game, except it was brutally cold.
“We had decent base running,” Feusner continued. “I liked how we were hitting today.”
Jones went 3-for-5 and had four RBIs, while Sheeley had three RBIs on two hits and Adriaans scored four runs.
“Lauren Jones had the best outing of the season,” Feusner said of her team’s senior pitcher.