By Melanie Cane
It wasn’t billed as a doubleheader, but it seemed like one: on the afternoon of April 28, the Garnets played a long game against Ardsley, and the following morning they faced Somers. Before the Ardsley game, Coach Alex Tejera said the team had been inconsistent, playing really well one day and poorly the next. Case in point: the Garnets lost to Ardsley 14-5, and beat the Somers Tuskers 6-5.
Against Ardsley, the Garnets got into a 9-1 hole early in the game. The Panthers scored twice in the first, three times in the second, and tacked on four in the third. Rye scored one in the bottom of the second and started to chip away at their deficit, scoring three in the third and one in the fourth.
In the third inning, Sam Bluvol led off with a single to left field. Hannah Mullaly’s double to centerfield moved Bluvol to third. Pitcher Katherine Brown had an RBI single. Then Taylor Volpe loaded the bases with a single, and Julia Bateman and Sadie Mazzola both walked in runs.
The Garnets added their last run in the fourth inning. Neither team scored in the fifth, but Rye had some solid hits. Shelby Gadaleta replaced Brown after the first out in the fifth. She retired the side, but the Panthers hit her hard in the sixth, scoring four runs.
In the Somers game, Montalto went 3 for 4, and Brown pitched a complete game. These were the first two games of 11 the Garnets will play in the space of two weeks due to rescheduling of rainouts.
Tejera praised his team for never giving up, but emphasized that “against a top team like Ardsley, you can’t fall behind early and hope to catch up.”
He added, “The girls always try their hardest, and for that I’m very proud of them, no matter the outcome. That’s all I can ask for.”
Captions:
Megan Montalto on her way to third
Katherine Brown on the mound
