By Rob Potter
SLATE HILL — June 8, 2010 — The Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats certainly enjoyed their experience in Saturday afternoon’s Section IX Class D softball championship game at Minisink Valley High School more than they did the previous two seasons.
After losing the Class D title game to S.S. Seward last year and falling to Chapel Field in the 2008 championship contest, Manor defeated the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets, 16-1, to win its first Section IX championship since 1998.
With the victory, the Lady Wildcats earned a trip to the Class D state semifinals. They will play a semifinal game against an as yet to be determined opponent at 9 a.m. this Saturday, June 12 at Waterloo High School.
“It’s a big weight lifted off our shoulders,” Manor Co-Coach Kevin Clifford said. “When it was close early on, those thoughts of ‘Oh no, here we go again’ start to creep into your mind. But the seniors believed we could win this game. The juniors, who took the SATs before the game, believed we could do it. The sophomores and freshmen also believed.
“Everybody played well today and everybody hit the ball,” he added. “Marissa Diescher pitched very well.”
As Clifford noted, every player in the Manor lineup hit the ball and Diescher allowed just two hits while striking out 14 batters.
Diescher and Brittanie Fredenburg each had three hits. Christine Babich, Emily Casey and Victoria Taggart added two hits apiece for the Lady Wildcats.
Manor (16-3) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Fredenburg, who led off the frame with an infield hit, scored on a passed ball and Casey scored on a groundout by Victoria Davis.
Eldred (4-12) responded with a run in the top of the third. Emily Hoffman began the inning with a single and stole second base. After advancing to third base as an out was recorded at first, Hoffman scored on a passed ball to cut the Lady Wildcats’ lead to 2-1.
Manor took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the third. Babich ripped a one-out double to left field and later scored on a groundout by Taggart.
The Lady Wildcats broke the game open by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth. Angela Zayas scored on an infield single by Maggi Calo and Davis and Samantha Scott both crossed the plate on an error.
Diescher slammed a double to left field to bring in Calo and Babich. Diescher went to third base on the throw to home plate and scored as Lady Yellowjackets catcher Jill Harris threw the ball back to pitcher Alexis Pierce.
Manor pushed its lead to 13-1 in the bottom of the fifth as Diescher blasted a grand slam home run over the left field fence.
The Lady Wildcats recorded their final three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jessyca Wolcott scored on a bunt single by Diescher and Meagan Edwards and Diescher both scored on a single by Fredenburg.
“It feels amazing to win this game,” Diescher said. “The third time was the charm. Everybody played good defense behind me today. I didn’t feel like I had to do it all as the pitcher.”
Of course, Diescher also enjoyed hitting her grand slam.
“As soon as I hit it, I thought ‘that one is gone,’” she said.
In addition to good hitting and pitching, the Lady Wildcats played good defense.
“Angela Zayas and Christine Babich made some great plays on ground balls,” Manor Co-Coach Charlie Hicks said.
While he was happy with the victory, Hicks feels there is room for improvement as the Lady Wildcats continue their quest for a state title.
“We have to keep hitting the ball well when we get to states,” he said.
“They kept hitting the ball and we made some errors in places that shut us down,” Eldred Coach Kelly Doherty said of the Lady Wildcats. “It didn’t help that I didn’t have my regular team here today, but these girls kept playing hard.
“We had a couple of hits,” Doherty added. “Emily Hoffman had one hit and Heather Ouellette had one hit against Marissa [Diescher], who is a tough pitcher.”