MORICHES — Shenendehowa’s softball team gave all it had in Saturday’s Class AA state title game. In the end, it was not quite enough.
Section VI champion Clarence used an RBI hit by Lauren Holley with two out in the top of the 11th inning to post a 1-0 win against the Plainsmen at Moriches Athletic Complex.
“We went 11 innings,” Shenendehowa coach Chris Farquharson said about how hard his team played. “We battled. It was very special. They never gave up. They never lost their energy.”
The Section II champs were outhit 11-4 in the afternoon thriller on a sunny day. And they were fanned 13 times by Red Devils junior pitcher Ella Harrison and could not manage a walk against the hard-throwing junior.
But Shen also made some great plays throughout the game to keep things scoreless until Holley’s clutch hit.
The first pressure came in the second inning when Harrison singled, moved to second on a sacrifice then reached third when Caitlyn Sweeney singled. Emily Wallrich then coaxed a walk to load the bases, but Bre Hayes escaped the jam with a strikeout.
Clarence almost took the lead in the third when Ella Zobel blasted a ball off the top of the right-field fence. It bounced back into play and Ava Barnhart threw to Natalie Colone for a 9-6 putout at second base.
Hayes stranded two more runners in the fifth inning with a strikeout, stranded one in the seventh with another of her 12 strikeouts then escaped a huge jam in the eighth as Samantha Pusloski had an odd bloop double to lead off. Hayes followed with two strikeouts then intentionally walked Harrison. The junior pitcher induced a flyout to keep it 0-0.
Things went from nervous to almost panic mode in the ninth as Clarence loaded the bases with two outs. Hayes then struck out Holley.
The Plainsmen’s star catcher, Emily Markowski, blooped a hit in the 10th with one out and…
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