WESTFIELD – At 15-1, Firtion Adams and Tankinis proved to be the top squads in the Westfeld Women”s Adult Softball League all season, with their only losses of the season coming in their two meetings of the regular season.
The postseason proved to be no different, as the No. 1 and 2 seeds met in the best-of-three championship series at Whitney Park Thursday night. Lindsey Carr and the FA defense combined to allow a total of five runs during the two games, including a shutout in game two, and the offense put up 11 runs in each game to earn a two-game sweep and the A division championship.
FA, who had defeated No. 4 Murphy”s in the semifinals, jumped out to a strong start in game one, scoring three times in the bottom of the first inning. Alicia Gardner and Jess Schuler led off the inning with a single and Maddie Atkocaitis walked to load the bases with no outs. RBI singles by Maggie Anischuk and Sam Rhodes sandwiched a sacrifice fly by Lindsey Adams to give FA a lead they would not relinquish.
Marissa Montemagni drove in Tankini”s first run on a single to score starting pitcher Rita Truoiolo in the top half of the third inning, but FA responded quickly, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the third inning. Adams and Rhodes drove in their second runs of the game on two RBI singles, with a two-run Jen Lingenber double breaking the game open. Sarah Caplan tacked on another run via a sacrifice fly and Schular and Pam McCray capped the offensive outburst by adding two more RBI singles.
Erica Drollett”s grand slam in the top of the fourth inning gave Tankinis, who had defeated No. 3 Tavern to reach the championship, some life and cut the deficit to five runs, but FA extended it one more time with an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to McCray”s second RBI of the game on a double.
With the teams switching sides before game two, FA continued its first-inning offensive prowess, taking a 1-0 lead on a solo home run by Atkocaitis. Two innings later, Gardner and Schuler drove in runs on a pair of RBI singles and Atkocaitis delivered her second RBI in as many at-bats on the third RBI single of the inning.
With a 4-0 lead, FA showed their nbso online casino reviews ability to produce the extra-base hit in the sixth inning. Atkocaitis smacked her second home run of the game–a two-run shot–and Mariah Bishop belted a three-run triple to extend the lead to 9-0. One inning later, Atkocaitis recorded her fifth RBI of the game on her second RBI single and Anishuk capped the offense with a RBI double.
Eleven runs proved to be the magic number in the B division championship, as Elks needed all 11 runs to hold off a late St. Joseph”s rally and win the B title by a slim 11-10 score. The Elks, who had defeated WEPCO 15-4 to get to the final, scored six runs in the first two innings to jump out to a quick 6-1 lead after two innings.
Alicia Thibault, who finished the night with eight RBIs cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the second inning. Starting pitcher Jenn Neylon contributed with RBI singles in the first two innings and Dee Ridgeway drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the first to open the scoring.
Elks extended their margin to eight in the bottom of the fourth inning on Thibault”s three-run home run, scoring Courtney Hampton and Ashley Owen, but St. Joe”s fought back. After defeating PBC 6-5 in the semifinals, the visitors bounced back with nine runs in the final three innings to reach double-digits. Katie Case, Dawn Santinello and Ashley Perkins all reached on walks which drove in the three fifth-inning runs and then Case and Santinello drove in two more runs on a pair of RBI singles in the sixth inning. The four-run sixth was started with a two-run double by Cassie Garlo, fueling the rally and shifting the momentum.
Thibault capped off her personal offensive show with her second RBI single in as many innings in the bottom of the sixth and that run proved to be valuable, as St. Joe”s tacked on two more runs in the seventh to finish within a run. Bug Weyland drove in a run by reaching on a fielder”s choice and Denise Ceppa singled in the 10th St Joe”s run, but Elks” defense provided the final stop to earn them the B division crown.
