Duanesburg tops Fort Plain for 31st straight WAC victory
By PAUL WAGER, The Leader-Herald
POSTED: May 8, 2008
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Instead, the Eagles did what they usually do to the Lady Hilltoppers as they emerged with a hard-fought 3-0 victory in eight innings.
“We’ve been doing this for quite a few years now,” Duanesburg coach John Conway said. “Don [Stockwell] has a good program and we always seem to have good games with them.”
The win was the 31st consecutive Western Athletic Conference victory for the Eagles.
Duanesburg extended their streak thanks to a three-run outburst in the top of the eighth.
“We gave this game to them,” Fort Plain coach Don Stockwell said. “We kind of mentally fell apart in the eighth inning. We made some mistakes we don’t normally make. You can’t do those things against a good team like Duanesburg.”
The Eagles registered three of their seven hits in the eighth and benefitted from a pair of mistakes by the Lady Hilltoppers.
“We played well for seven innings. We bent, but we didn’t break,” Stockwell said. “We were mentally stong and tough for the first seven innings, so it’s hard to explain what happened in the eighth.”
Noelle Hennel and Breanne Hotaling led off the eighth with back-to-back singles bringing Alyson Sanders to the plate. Sanders put down what looked to be a sacrifice bunt, but Fort Plain catcher Meagan Kane held on to the ball, allowing Duanesburg to load the bases with no outs.
Erika Hillenbrand snapped the scoreless tie with a single to left that just eluded the glove of Fort Plain shortstop Kelsey Logan. Hennel scored on the base hit and Hotaling soon followed on a throwing error on the play.
Sanders tacked on another run, scoring on a passed ball to make it 3-0 before Fort Plain was able to get out of the inning.
“We finally got it done in the eighth inning with a couple of hits,” Conway said. “It certainly was a great game.”
In Fort Plain’s final at-bat, Logan drew a two-out walk, but Hillenbrand closed the win by winning a lengthy battle with her Fort Plain counterpart, Kelly Budzik, getting a groundout to end the game. Budzik had fallen behind 0-2 in the count before working the count to 3-2 and fouling off several pitches to remain alive.
Hillenbrand struck out 10, walked just one and scattered four hits to earn the win in the circle.
“We pitched well and played good defense,” Conway said. “Erika [Hillenbrand] has been pitching against Fort Plain since she was an eighth-grader, so it was big for her to win in her final trip here.”
Both teams had their chances during the first seven innings.
Duanesburg (13-1 overall, 11-0 WAC) had runners in scoring position in five of the first seven innings, but were unable to cash in on their opportunities.
“We left three or four runners on third with two outs,” Conway said. “We weren’t producing the big hit when we needed it early.”
Fort Plain also made three errors over the first three innings, but Budzik was able to pitch her way out of every jam.
“They [Fort Plain] tried to give us some breaks early, but we didn’t capitalize on it,” Conway said.
Budzik finished with seven strikeouts, one walk and allowed seven hits.
Colby Hochmuth had a double and a single for Duanesburg, while Hillenbrand also finished with two hits.
Budzik, Kane, Marie Sinchak and Brittany Nellis had the only hits for Fort Plain.
“They’re [Duanesburg] a very good team and we usually have good games with them,” Stockwell said. “Erika [Hillenbrand] is a tough pitcher. She usually only gives you one pitch to hit and if you don’t get it she toys with you because she’s very smart on the mound.”
Having faced off in the sectionals in each of the last three years, Conway said he expects to see the Lady Hilltoppers again this season.
“This was a big win for the league, but we know Round 2 is coming,” he said.
Fort Plain (10-3 overall, 7-3 WAC) is scheduled to host Canajoharie Friday at 4:30 p.m.
“We’ve got to get it back together because Canajoharie is another great team,” Stockwell said.
Duanesburg 3, Fort Plain 0, 8 innings
Duanesburg 000 000 03 - 3 7 0
Fort Plain 000 000 00 - 0 4 4
Hillenbrand and Fields; Budzik and Kane.
WAC
Northville 7, Berne-Knox-Westerlo 1
NORTHVILLE — Chelsea Paul doubled, tripled and drove in three runs, leading Northville to a win over Berne-Knox-Westerlo.
Krista Allen singled twice and drove in two runs for the Lady Falcons (5-7 overall, 4-7 WAC). Alicia Reidell had a single and an RBI.
Katrina Yakel, Becky Amedio and Kristen Depaux singled for BKW (2-6 WAC).
Northville 7, Berne-Knox-Westerlo 1
Berne-Knox-Westerlo 000 100 0 — 1 4 3
Northville 023 200 0 — 7 8 0
Hurst, Reynolds (4) and Springer; Ryan and Bedell
Fonda-Fultonville 2, Schoharie 0
SCHOHARIE — Amanda Baker threw a three-hitter in Fonda-Fultonville’s win over Schoharie.
Alyssa Nowak singled home a run for the Lady Braves (8-6 overall, 5-5 WAC).
Schoharie fell to 5-4 in the WAC.
Fonda-Fultonville 2, Schoharie 0
Fonda-Fultonville 000 200 0 — 2 2 0
Schoharie 000 000 0 — 0 3 2
A. Baker and Wilmot; Diamond and Hext
Canajoharie 14, St. Johnsville 0
ST. JOHNSVILLE — Gina Santos and Alison Limoncelli had four hits each, leading Canajoharie to a rout over St. Johnsville.
Santos singled three times, doubled and scored two runs and Limoncelli had four singles and two runs scored for the Lady Cougars (10-1 overall, 10-1 WAC), who pounded out 18 hits.
Sonni Pank and Caitlyn Mosher had two singles each and two runs scored each.
Meghan Beaulieu singled for St. Johnsville (0-11 overall, 0-6 WAC).
Canajoharie 14, St. Johnsville 0
Canajoharie 111 1(10)0 0 — 14 18 0
St. Johnsville 000 000 0 — 0 2 5
Gaydusek, Buccolo (6) and Blood; Halping and Lull
Big 10
Schenectady 1, Amsterdam 0
SCHENECTADY — Shannon Riedy threw a one-hitter with 13 strikeouts, leading Schenectady to a victory over Amsterdam.
Amanda Colafemina singled and scored for the Lady Patriots (5-8 overall, 5-2 Big 10).
Caitlyn DiCaprio had the only hit for Amsterdam (4-6 overall, 5-5 Big 10), a sixth inning single breaking up Reidy’s no-hit bid.
Schenectady 1, Amsterdam 0
Amsterdam 000 000 0 — 0 1 1
Schenectady 001 000 x — 1 3 0
Miller and Mulligan; Riedy and VanBuren
Foothills Council
Queensbury 8, Johnstown 0
QUEENSBURY — Cailtin Schultze had three hits and three stolen bases in Queensbury’s win over Johnstown.
Sarah Daubenschmidt tripled and singled for the Spartans (9-3 overall, 7-2 Foothills Council).
Johnstown (0-12 overall, 0-10 Foothills) was no-hit by two Queensbury pitchers.
Queensbury 8, Johnstown 0
Johnstown 000 000 0 — 0 0 3
Queensbury 321 020 x — 8 16 0
Glens Falls 12, Gloversville 1
QUEENSBURY — Kasey Sullivan had three hits, leading Glens Falls to a win over Gloversville.
Erin Pruess doubled and Lindsay Yole and Ashley Stanley had two hits each for the Lady Indians (8-5 overall, 6-4 Foothills Council).
Ashley Rowback had two hits and an RBI for Gloversville (3-11 overall, 1-9 Foothills Council).
Glens Falls 12, Gloversville 1
Gloversville 000 010 0 — 1 4 3
Glens Falls 050 250 x — 12 16 0
Putnam, Baldwin (5) and Benson; Mason and Preuss
Center State Conference
Dolgeville 6, Mohawk 2
DOLGEVILLE — Juleah Vedder struck out 12 and hit a pair of two-run doubles, leading Dolgeville to a win over Mohawk.
Kassie Gonyea and Natasha Mamrosh each had an RBI for the Blue Devils (5-4 overall, 5-2 CSC-I).
Mohawk (5-5 overall, 3-3 CSC-I) managed only four hits.
Dolgeville 6, Mohawk 2
Mohawk 000 010 1 — 2 4 2
Dolgeville 330 000 x — 6 12 1
Herlehy, Kryshchuk (5) and Johnson; Vedder and Mamrosh
