Section 9 Class D softball champion Chapel Field had its season come to a close with a 10-1 setback to Section 4 winner Windham-Ashland-Jewett in a New York State quarterfinal playoff at Monroe-Woodbury on Thursday, June 4.
The visiting Warriors (20-0) jumped on the Lions early, posting three runs in the first, six in the second and once in the seventh.
Chapel Field (8-8) struggled against WAJ pitcher Hannah Tuttle, an all-state player headed to Mansfield. The right-hander picked corners, pitched effectively inside and used her rise ball effectively, striking out 13 batters.
The Lions had 13 batters go down in a row until Kelly Monahan slapped a sixth-inning single to right field, taking second on an error and third on a wild pitch. Following a walk by Meghan Winter and a strikeout, Bella Renwick used a nice inside-out swing to lace an RBI single to make it 9-1.
Chapel Field will graduate six seniors.
The Warriors seized the lead on an inside-the-park homer by Mikenzie Schoonmaker – her diving line drive toward right-center dipped past center fielder Daniella Quintanilla, scoring Gianna Garzone and Tuttle, both of whom had singled. Schoonmaker was waved home and slid under the tag of catcher Abigail Spanjer.
WAJ sent 10 batters to the plate in the second, posting five hits, a batter reaching on a dropped third strike, two fielding errors and a perfect suicide squeeze bunt by Maida Dzaferovic to cap the rally. Piper Cohane ripped a two-run double down the left-field line, later scoring on the back end of a double steal. Tuttle and Kylie Jordan added RBI singles.
In the seventh, Tuttle lined her third single off the shortstop’s glove and later scored on an errant throw.
The Warriors won’t have to travel far to Binghamton’s Grand Slam Park for the Final Four. WAJ will play a Friday, June 12, semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s Fort Ann (Section 2) vs. Crown Point (Section 7) final, to be played at Plattsburgh High School.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Softball – Chapel Field falls in state Class D quarterfinals
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
