Girls’ Softball

Holy Child Outlasts Rye Country Day in Epic Game

By Melanie Cane

Chances are if you blinked during Holy Child’s 24-15 win over Rye Country Day School on May 4 you would have missed a lot of action. 

The Gryphons opened the away game with three runs. Leadoff batter Julia Lane singled to right field and Lily Hurley sent her home on a double to center. Catherine Bryceland had an RBI single and then scored on Elisa Maiolo’s double. The Wildcats answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Bella Sanchez and Alexa Jablonski singled and Therese Mooney and Shaine Tomaino walked for the first run. With the bases loaded, Sadie Silverman-Guffey smacked a grand slam to deep center.

The Gryphons’ Charlotte Hurley opened the second inning with a single to left and took second on her sister Lily’s bunt. Bryceland then had her second RBI single. The Gryphons tied the game at five through a combination of stolen bases and a passed ball. They tacked on three more runs on singles by Katie Caffrey and Natalia Nunez and a walk.

But the Wildcats bounced back, to tie the game at eight in the bottom of the second. Sanchez singled to center and Jablonski sent a single down the third base line. Sanchez stole third and Mooney sent her home on a sacrifice fly. Silverman-Guffey walked and Phoebe Shapiro knocked in two runs on a triple.

In the top of the third, Holy Child started off with an infield single by Julia Lane and Charlotte Hurley being hit by a pitch. They pulled off a double steal before Lily Hurley hit an RBI single to center field. Charlotte Hurley scored on Sanchez’s single to left to make it 10-8. The Gryphons plated seven more runs before the Wildcats squeezed in one run in the bottom of the inning to make the score 17-8.

Great fielding by the Wildcats prevented the Gryphons from scoring more than once in the fourth inning, and Rye Country Day was able to score three runs. They might have scored more without a great play by Maiolo, who ran down Sabrina Reznik’s blast to center.

“This was the spark we needed to ignite our defense,” said Coach Mike Clancy. At the end of the fourth, Holy Child led 18-11.

Both teams added three runs in the fifth, traded a few more runs late in the game, and everyone went home to a sound sleep.

The nearly four-hour long game featured outstanding hitting and fielding, plus true grit from Gryphon freshman pitcher Ali Marzen, who stayed on the mound the entire game. The Wildcats alternated between two pitchers. Shapiro started and Reznik played first base. When Shapiro got into trouble in the second inning, they switched positions, then switched again twice more.

Wildcat Angelica Michaca looking to steal.

Elisa Maiolo scoring one of Holy Child’s 24 runs.

Gryphon Natalia Nunez crossing first base.