By Frank Rizzo and Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — May 4, 2010 — Ben Chesnick, “Dean” of the county’s baseball/softball umpires, would have been proud of the tournament named in his honor, serving as it does to give county softball teams extra playing time and aspiring umps some game experience.
Umps Steve Nash and Stu Parsons, watching the Eldred-Sullivan West contest, were full of praise for – and stories about – their late colleague.
“When Ben told me he would do a game, he always kept his word,” said Nash of the man who was calling balls and strikes into his late 70s.
On the field, meanwhile, the tourney was held in both Liberty and Grahamsville as some teams dropped out and the six remaining ones played a round-robin format.
In Liberty, Penn State-bound junior Marissa Diescher led Livingston Manor to a pair of crushing wins with her dominating pitching.
In Grahamsville, a young and inexperienced Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs team shared the co-champion trophy with Manor by taking two steps forward – and a step back.
Led by strong pitching performances by Amanda Rosenberger and Autumn Ackermann, Sullivan West swept Tri-Valley and Eldred to double its victories for the year.
However, senior catcher Danielle Meyer, rounding the bases after a long drive against Eldred, fell to the ground as her knee gave out. Later, she was carried off the field.
Coach Mike Ellmauer said the extent of Meyer’s injuries were unknown and she was slated to see a doctor yesterday.
“She’s going to be out a while. It’s a blow to our program,” said Ellmauer, who felt “we were moving in a positive direction.”
Playing some difficult competition in the OCIAA Division IV, the Bulldogs entered the tourney with a 2-6 record.
In Saturday’s opener at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds, Sullivan West downed Tri-Valley 11-2 as Ackermann tossed a five-hitter and struck out seven. Gabrielle Humleker led the hitting parade with three and drove in two runs. Rosenberger followed with a two-hitter with six strikeouts as the Bulldogs crushed Eldred 12-1. Rosenberger also ended the day with five total hits. Angela DiSanto had two hits and three RBI against Eldred.
“We needed to get a positive feeling,” Ellmauer said after the pair of wins. “The girls have been working hard but it hasn’t been rewarded – it was like a black cloud was over us. Hopefully the karma is with us now.”
Battle for second place
By the time Eldred and Tri-Valley took the field for the final game, the afternoon shadows had lengthened and the contest ended just before darkness could be a factor. Thanks to a late rally, the host Lady Bears prevailed 6-4 to improve to 4-7.
The Lady Yellowjackets jumped out to a 2-0 lead in their first at bat against Lauren Jones, thanks to a leadoff triple by Tomara Bodnaruik, some Lady Bear miscues and a run-scoring single by Kaitlin Terry.
Lauren Hazen’s single led off the top of the second. She proceeded to steal second and third, then score on Rachel Hofaker’s sac fly.
On the mound, Alexis Pierce kept the T-V bats quiet until Karyn Sheeley found the gap in right center for a home run in the bottom of the third. With two outs Erin Smith hit the first of her two triples, but Pierce got Ashley Exner to line to short to end the rally.
The hosts tied it in the fifth as Sheeley, who had reached on an error and stole second and third, scored on a wild pitch. Smith, who had walked, went all the way to third on the play and scored when Amanda TerBush singled.
Relief pitcher Liz Bracken got Sam Ferguson to line to right with runners on second and third, setting up a decisive bottom of the sixth against Pierce.
With two outs Jones lashed a single to right field, scoring Rachel Adriaans and Christina Neist, who had singled and advanced to scoring positions.
Heather Ouellette, who had two hits for Eldred (2-8) closed out the scoring as Bracken earned the win. Hazen added two hits for the Yellow Jackets.
Meanwhile, in Liberty…
In tournament games played at Liberty Central School, the Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats won twice thanks to a pair of excellent performances by junior pitcher Marissa Diescher.
Against the Liberty Lady Indians, Diescher allowed only one hit and recorded nine strikeouts as the Lady Wildcats prevailed by the final score of 12-1.
In Manor’s 11-1 win against the Monticello Lady Panthers, Diescher threw a no-hitter and struck out 14 batters.
Diescher was also one of the key offensive players for Manor (7-2). For the two games, she went 5-for-6 at the plate and scored five runs.
Also leading the Lady Wildcats’ offense were Maggi Calo, Brittanie Fredenburg and Victoria Taggart.
Taggart went 6-for-6 with seven RIB, Fredenburg was 4-for-4 and Calo was 4-for-6 and scored four runs.
Liberty’s Taylor DeVantier accounted for her team’s only run against Manor by blasting a home run.
In the other game they played on Saturday, the Lady Indians earned a 5-4 victory over Monticello in eight innings. DeVantier scored the winning run on a bunt by Kirsten Sauer.
DeVantier and Sauer each had three hits in the game.
Paige Clancy pitched five innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory for Liberty (4-8).
Sam Cohn, who took the loss in the pitcher’s circle, went 4-for-5 for Monticello (0-11).