Rye High School’s softball team hosted Rye Country Day as part of G Day weekend, April 5, in their first home game. In their season opener, the Garnets trounced Hackley away, 20-10.
By Melanie Cane
Rye High School’s softball team hosted Rye Country Day as part of G Day weekend, April 5, in their first home game. In their season opener, the Garnets trounced Hackley away, 20-10.
In the huddle prior to the top of the 7th inning in the game against Rye Country Day, with the score knotted at 6, Rye High Coach Alex Tejera impressed upon his team that the last three outs are always the hardest to get. Unfortunately, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Rye had three of their six errors in the field in that inning. These errors enabled Rye Country Day to score and win the game, 7-6.
In the top of the first, the Wildcats jumped out to a quick three-run lead, but the Garnets answered back with four in the bottom of the inning. The Garnets added another run in the third, and took a 5-3 lead into the sixth inning, at which point, the stars aligned for the Wildcats and they scored three runs, taking a 6-5 lead. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Rye High’s Emily Antinozzi hit a game-tying triple.
Both teams made their share of defensive mistakes, but the game was especially noteworthy for several phenomenal plays in the field. Wildcats second baseman Jess Grasso made a backhanded diving stop and threw a baserunner out at home from her knees. Taylor Forte, the Wildcats left fielder, threw another baserunner out at home from left field, and Melanie Mandell made a backhanded diving catch in right center field in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win.
For the Garnets, shortstop Catherine Livingston and Antinozzi at third base, were impenetrable.
Rye Country Day Coach Margaret Scarcella thought it was a great game. She was thrilled that her team had runners on base in almost every inning. Pitcher and Co-Captain Eve Wulf said to her team after the game, “Isn’t it fun to win?” Coach Scarcella liked that comment because she said, “fun” is often overlooked and “after all, that’s what it’s all about.”
Coach Tejera also thought it was a good game. He was pleased that his team continually came back when they were down, but said it was unfortunate that they could not answer back in the bottom of the seventh. He said the team hit well but the mistakes in the field ended up costing them the game. He credited the Wildcats’ defense for robbing them of a few potential game-winning runs. He was especially pleased with freshman pitcher