Section 9 Class AA softball champ Minisink Valley came up with clutch hits and finally got a stop in the final inning with the tying runs aboard as the Warriors fended off Section 1 champ Eastchester 4-2 in a state quarterfinal playoff at Monroe-Woodbury.
The Warriors (19-4) have won seven in a row, and take their momentum into next week’s state Final Four in Binghamton. Minisink will play a semifinal on Friday, June 12, against the winner of Saturday’s Long Island championship between Calhoun and East Islip.
Eastchester (21-3) had its 10-game win streak snapped, held to just three hits by Minisink pitcher Emily Smith. The righty, though, walked her only two runners in the final inning (one later scored) but got out of the jam with a strikeout of the No. 9 batter and inducing leadoff threat Elianna Baez to ground out to shortstop, the throw going to third for the final out.
Baez led off the game with a triple to center, scoring on an infield groundout by Angelina Recine. Kylie Reardon laced a two-out double but was left stranded – those would be the only two hits Smith allowed until a sixth-inning single by Baez.
In the Minisink second, Kiera Barry reached on a fielder’s choice to the left side, leading to the second out. Following a walk to No. 7 batter Tyler Hannigan by Eastchester pitcher Sabrina Cosgrove, Juliet Lynch laced a two-out double to right-center to put the Warriors on top 2-1.
Minisink stranded runners at second base in the third and fourth innings but capitalized in the fifth. Smith ripped a double over the leap of third baseman Grace Comizio. Leadoff batter Keira Filip dropped a bunt to the left side, beating Cosgrove’s throw to first. With two down, Hannah Ringus hit a hard grounder to the left side and shortstop Kylie Reardon made a strong throw to the plate but courtesy runner Braelyn Berlinski made a quality slide and slipped her hand across the plate for a 3-1 lead.
In the sixth, Hannigan chopped a high-hop single over third baseman Comizio. Lynch, again, came up with the big hit, drilling a 1-2 pitch for an RBI double to center.
Minisink lost in the 2018 state AA semifinals and the 1994 B title game. The Warriors won the B championship in 1992.
Eastchester was vying for its first state titles since 1990 and 1991. It beat Yorktown in last week’s Section 1 championship.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Softball – Minisink Valley tops Eastchester, reaches state semifinals
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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By Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record | USA TODAY Network
