Softball Loses Both Games of Doubleheader with Huge Playoff Implications
Cardinals Drop Two; Playoff Chances Decrease
By: Joseph Calendrillo, Sports Information Intern
BOX SCORE 1 |
BOX SCORE 2 BRONX, N.Y.- The York College softball team dropped two games to Lehman College on the road by the score of 11-9 and 11-7 respectively yesterday. The losses against the then 6th place and last team in the CUNYAC (CUNY Athletic Conference) playoffs Lehman Lightning left the Cardinals on the outside looking in.
York now has just two more CUNYAC matchups against the College of Staten Island Dolphins tomorrow in Staten Island. The Dolphins are 10-0 in conference play this season. York would need to win both games to sneak into the final playoff spot.
GAME 1Yesterday's matchup got off to a promising start. A bases loaded walk to
Thessaly Belizario and a pair of Lehman fielding miscues led to a four-run top-half of the first inning. While York's bats seemed to come to life throughout the afternoon- it was their own fielding troubles that doomed them in the bottom half of the first and beyond. Six unearned runs charged to starting pitcher
Priscilla Lallave in the bottom of the first erased the early lead.
York regained the lead briefly in the top half of the fourth on a two-RBI single by
Karen Werner and a two-RBI double by
Geneva Faulk. They each added a stolen base in the game as well. The two Cardinals are tied for third in the CUNYAC with 12 stolen bases on the season, along with Lehman's Kyala Cruz. Cruz added two hits, an RBI and a pair of runs scored in this game.
The game was tied 8-8 going into the bottom half of the sixth. This was when Lehman took the lead back for good, putting three runs on the board. The inning was highlighted by Linda Resto's steal of home. An error by York third baseman
Chyla Guevara led to another Lehman run scoring.
While York was able to rattle Lehman's starter Sheila San Andres for seven earned runs on six walks, Meghan Bravo pitched three innings of one run ball in relief to pick up the win, improving her record to 6-10. Bravo added an RBI in the game.
Priscilla Lallave pitched the complete game, giving up three earned runs while walking four and striking out one. She did however take the loss to drop her record to 2-11 on the season.
GAME 2 Game two of the doubleheader featured a barrage of fielding miscues by the Cardinals that ultimately led to their demise. While the afternoon featured 16 total York runs on 18 hits, their five total errors in this game made it hard for them to recover.
The game started off in similar fashion for the Cardinals.
Karen Werner's RBI double, a
Conetia Anderson walk and another run walked home by Lehman gave York a 3-0 advantage after an inning and a half of play.
Third baseman Linda Resto played the role of star for Lehman on the afternoon, however. She was 4-4 in this game and batted in the Lightning's first three runs of the afternoon, with a single in the bottom of the second and a two-RBI ground rule double in the fourth. Her team scored six unanswered runs during the 4th and 5th innings to secure the lead.
The Cardinals showed resilience, bouncing back with three runs of their own in the sixth inning off of an RBI single by Guevara and a two-RBI single by first baseman
Danielle Dunn. Lehman however answered in the bottom half by plating four and securing the lead in the game for good. Cruz, Jona Kerluku and Chariny Graciano batted in runs during the late game rally for Lehman.
Bravo picked up her second win of the afternoon, however she and San Andres played role reversal from the first game- it was Bravo who gave up the seven York runs (all earned) while San Andres came in and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to secure the win.
Michelle Deleon took the loss for York. She too pitched a complete game, however surrendered fifteen hits and ten earned runs while walking four, striking out five and throwing six wild pitches.
After the two games, York's record dropped to 5-17 (1-9 CUNYAC) while Lehman improved to 10-20 overall and 4-8 in the conference. The two wins actually saw them not only clinch a playoff berth but move past Baruch College and into the current fifth seed in the CUNYAC playoffs. They will finish off their season on Friday, April 25th against Yeshiva University, while York will need to quickly regroup as they finish off the season with six road games between today and Friday. These games will be crucial to their late playoff push, which will continue today against Purchase College at 3pm.
