MORICHES — For the fourth time, Ichabod Crane’s softball team is state champion. And while the Section II champs did not wreck everyone at the state championships as they did in 2022, they were convincing in capturing a second straight state crown Saturday on Long Island.
Section II’s Class B champ followed Friday’s hard-fought 4-0 win against Windsor with a 7-1 victory against error-prone Marlboro of Section IX at Moriches Athletic Complex
“They made some plays and we didn’t,” Marlboro coach Ray LeDuc said after his team missed out on a second state title in the past seven years. “It was a tough ending, it hurts, but, hey, we’re still the second-best team in the state.”
“We played almost flawless defense,” a happy coach Tracy Nytransky McComb said of her Riders. “But we didn’t have good at-bats in the beginning and had to adjust.”
The Riders did not score until the third inning. With one out, Abbey Milazzo singled and Anna Siter reached on an error. Another error and two walks and a fielder’s choice plated runs and Ichabod Crane was up 2-0.
Kari Graziano, Friday’s semifinal winner, held Marlboro at bay in the top of the fourth with a flyout and two strikeouts, then got some insurance runs in the bottom of the inning.
Gabriella Wendelken reached on an error, moved up on a sacrifice, and scored on Siter’s two-out hit. Losing pitcher Leah Gunsett escaped the inning with two runners on with a flyout. But she could get no help from her offense as the Dukes managed just two hits in the fourth through sixth innings.
Things came apart for Marlboro in the bottom of the sixth as a walk and hits by Siter and Emma Scheitinger were followed by an error on a fly ball by Ava Heffner. Those three runs ended any realistic hope Marlboro had of rallying.
The Dukes did scratch out a run in the seventh when the Riders committed their lone…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply