CENTRAL VALLEY – Earlier this season, the Pine Plains softball program made the decision to travel out to Binghamton to compete in a tournament with some of the state’s better teams. The hope was to prepare the Bombers for a potential return back later in the year for the New York state tournament.
Flash forward to the present; Pine Plains has punched its ticket to return. Only this time, the stakes are a bit higher.
Taking down Tuckahoe 4-1 in the Class C Regional Final at Monroe-Woodbury High School on Thursday afternoon, the Bombers have earned the opportunity to go back to Binghamton to compete in the state final four with title hopes a real possibility.
As evident by the clutch play on the field, a Pine Plains program that has seen massive success in recent memory will continue the quest with legitimate state title hopes in mind.
“Not only getting used to the facility, which is one of the reasons we went up there, to play on turf and hopefully get a chance to be up there and know what the field is about,” said Pine Plains coach Les Funk, referring to the trip early in the season. “We were playing top ranked AAA schools and and were like ‘this is great,’ we competed with them. It was an indication of some stuff of what this team could do.”
The time will come in a week to fully lock in for the ultimate goal, but the milestone achieved on Thursday will certainly be enjoyed and appreciated. Winning the regionals and reaching the final four in 2024, Thursday’s victory was just the second time since 2019 that the program got this far.
Sitting in the dugout as head coach for all of those appearances, including two trips to the title game in 2017 and 2018, Funk understands the importance of appreciating this milestone. This is especially the case when it came against the team that ended their season one year ago.
“For them to be up there and beating us soundly last year, it was a tough feat for us but we had that in the back of our mind all year,” Funk said. “To get down 1-0, it’s a credit to these kids. They could’ve easily, in a pressure game like this, get down a little bit but they didn’t. Players have to make some plays at this time of year and they did. Especially some of our seniors.”
The seniors certainly showed out with their high school careers on the line, particularly those at the top of the lineup. Abbey Mayes, the leadoff hitter for the Bombers, drove in a pair of runs while also scoring one. The game-changing moment, Mayes fought off a litany of pitches with two outs before using her speed to beat out an infield single that ultimately scored two runs to give the Bombers the lead in the bottom of the fifth frame.
Peyton Burton and Anna Essery each recorded a hit and a run driven in while Addy Farinaccio and Emma Alford also smacked a hit.
“Last year was definitely a tough loss, so coming in this year and being able to win it with such a great group of girls… we just progressed and it’s a great feeling.” Mayes said.
It wasn’t just the seniors who made a vital impact on the win. Sophomore Talia Durant was fantastic once again in the circle, tossing a complete game while allowing just two hits and one run. She struck out 10 batters with just one walk.
“I feel like my spin was pretty good and I feel like my riseball was really on point,” Durant said. “I felt like I was missing a lot of barrels today.”
Looking ahead, Pine Plains still awaits their opponent for the state semis but will get some time to rest and prepare for the ultimate quest. The semifinal contest will be played next Friday, June 12, at the Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park with the championship (if the team makes it there) one day later.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Pine Plains softball reaches state final four with regional title win
Reporting by Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal | USA TODAY Network
