MALTA — Last spring, the Shenendehowa softball team was vanquished in extra innings in the Section II Class AA final by Saratoga Springs as the No. 1 seed. Thursday, the Plainsmen conquered the No. 1 seed. Obtaining the final three outs, however, proved quite difficult.
Colonie scored four times in the bottom of the seventh, but Shen senior pitcher Bre Hayes rebounded to record the final out as the Plainsmen produced a 7-6 Class AA championship victory over the Garnet Raiders at the Luther Forest Athletic Complex.
“For sure, it means a lot more that we had to dig to win the championship,” said Hayes, who scattered nine hits and struck out six.
“This feels so good after what happened last year,” Shenendehowa senior third baseman Emily Baumes said. “We wanted to win for those seniors last year. Doing it as No. 3 seed with two upsets is really great.”
Shenendehowa nearly did not reach Thursday’s title game. The Plainsmen trailed No. 2 seed Guilderland 5-1 in the third inning before rallying for a 9-6 victory in nine innings on Tuesday.
Thursday, Shenendehowa grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning and continued to add on. Baumes delivered an RBI double in the fourth and tripled and scored the team’s seventh run in the sixth.
“I was really pleased with the way we swung the bats,” Shenendehowa coach Chris Farquharson said. “Colonie has two really good pitchers and we came out and put together some real solid contact against them.”
The Plainsmen took a 7-2 advantage into the seventh before Colonie rallied.
“Once the inning started, my nerves rose. We had Bre’s back,” Baumes said.
Unlike in 2022 when the Plainsmen entered sectionals as a prohibitive favorite, this season’s squad endured losing five games in six outings – four coming by one run.
“Honestly, it made us a better…
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