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Panthers pounce on Harborfields
SOFTBALL
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April 09, 2009 | 04:39 PM
The Harborfields Tornadoes have struggled against the Miller Place Panthers in recent years. "Miller Place has always given us good competition," said Harborfields head coach Kimberly Carroll. "It's always a good game."
The Tornadoes hoped that their home opener would be the perfect opportunity to shift the momentum and turn things around. But Harborfields made some mistakes, and Miller Place capitalized on them by being overpowering from the start. The Panthers went on to a 5-1 victory over the Tornadoes on March 30.
Miller Place came out strong and opened the game with a two-run top of the first. Harborfields' pitcher Cherylann Tully — who sent 10 batters back to the bench on strikes in the game — struck out Miller Place left fielder Alexa Lynam. Tully ran into trouble, though, surrendering three consecutive doubles — to second baseman Kaitlin O'Connor, first baseman Melissa Shaver and pitcher Caitlin Maynes. Harborfields came to bat in the bottom half of the inning trailing 2-0, and failed to score.
Tully returned to the mound focused and determined to take care of business in the second inning. That's exactly what she did by striking out the side in order. "You have to have a short-term memory," she said. "If you have a bad inning, you have to leave it behind you and start fresh."
The Panthers added to their score in the top half of the third. With one out, senior catcher Theresa DeLucia hit a towering fly ball to Harborfields right fielder Mackenzie Thomas, who couldn't hold onto it. DeLucia hustled all the way to third on the play. She scored on a passed ball by Harborfields catcher Ava Miranda to give Miller Place a 3-0 lead.
Harborfields answered in the bottom half of the fourth to get on the board. The Harborfields lead-off hitter slapped the ball over Miller Place third baseman Danielle Soto's head and later scored on a passed ball that got away from DeLucia. The Tornadoes cut the Miller Place lead down to 3-1 after four complete innings of play.
The Miller Place girls added a little icing to their cake in the top of the sixth inning. With Shaver on base, Maynes belted a double to left field. On the same play, Harborfields left fielder Samantha Calabro committed an error allowing both runners to score and put the finishing touches on Miller Place's 5-1 victory. "All game I was behind on the ball," said Maynes. "I waited for my pitch. I took it to left and let the ball do the rest."
Harborfields put forth a solid effort throughout the game by battling to put the ball in play when they were faced with the pressure of full counts, which limited the number of strikeouts. "It's a big improvement," Carroll said. "It's good to have a strong pitcher on the mound."
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