Pine Plains won its second Section 9 Class C softball title in a row, putting up 10 runs in the first three innings and posting a 10-1 win over John S. Burke Catholic in the championship game played at Mount Saint Mary in Newburgh on Friday, May 29.
Pine Plains (18-2) moves on to the state quarterfinals on Thursday, June 4, at Monroe-Woodbury when the Bombers take on the Section 1 champions. Burke completes its season at 14-4.
The left-hander Talia Durant was dominant throughout, fanning 14 batters, striking out the side in the first, third and fifth innings. She retired the first nine Burke batters, and the only hit allowed was an infield fly by Morgan Owen in the seventh inning, a ball that dove to the ground ahead of the second baseman and squirted away.
The Pine Plains offense totaled 15 base hits. The leadoff three – Abbey Mayes, Eliza Badden and Addy Farinaccio – each had two hits and an RBI. Durant had two hits and two RBI from the five spot, followed by Peyton Burton’s three hits and RBI.
Pine Plains took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off Sofia Ortiz. Badden doubled over the head of center fielder Anna Lawless and scored on Farinaccio’s ripped single past third baseman McKenzie Lee. Farinaccio scored on a two-out single to left-center by Burton.
The Bombers sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run second for an 8-0 lead. Mayes and Emma Alford had RBI singles, Anna Essery a sacrifice fly and Durant and Burton delivered consecutive RBI doubles.
In the third, nine batters stepped up with Badden delivering a sacrifice fly and Durant an RBI single.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
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This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Softball – Pine Plains strikes early to top Burke in Section 9 C final
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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