May 15, 2008
Softball: Tigers await FCIAC seed
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Trailing by two runs late in the game, the Ridgefield High softball team rallied for a 5-2 victory over Trinity Catholic last Wednesday. But on Monday against St. Joseph, another budding comeback was stopped short.
Behind 4-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers scored one run and had the bases loaded with one out. St. Joseph pitcher Megan Keltos got the next two batters, however, on a strikeout and a groundout to clinch the Cadets’ 4-1 victory.
The win left both teams with 11-5 conference records and tied for fifth place in the standings. St. Joseph and Ridgefield have clinched spots in next week’s eight-team FCIAC playoffs, although the Cadets now hold the tiebreaker should the two finished tied in the standings.
With two games left this week, Ridgefield still had a chance to move into the top four and get a first-round home game on Monday.
Mistakes hurt the Tigers against St. Joseph. Ridgefield committed five errors, helping St. Joseph score three unearned runs.
“You can’t give a team like that extra outs,” said Ridgefield head coach Angelo Formisano. “Five errors is way too many ... you can’t do that.”
The Cadets scored two runs in the third and single runs in the fourth and seventh to go ahead 4-0.
Ridgefield’s Tara Formisano led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Maddie Sposito walked. Shelby Coyle grounded into a force play at third, but Jill Richter singled to load the bases. A walk to Katie Rohrer forced in a run, but Keltos got the next two batters to end the game.
Richter had two of Ridgefield’s five hits off Keltos.
Ashley Higgins pitched a seven-hitter for the Tigers, walking one and striking out four.
Against Trinity, the Tigers trailed 2-0 going into the top of the sixth. Andrea singled and scored on Kim Amrod’s triple, and Amrod then came home when Sposito reached on an error.
The Tigers broke the tie with three runs in the top of the seventh. Richter doubled and scored the go-ahead run on Coyle’s pinch-hit RBI single. Andrea then crushed a booming two-run homer to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead.
Higgins allowed seven hits, walking none and striking out four. Both of Trinity’s runs were unearned.
Andrea had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Notes: Saturday’s non-league game with New Fairfield was rained out and may or may not be rescheduled. The game would only affect state tournament rankings.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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