Amherst Girls Softball
Devil Rays sting Royals in opening game of season

The Devil Rays defeated the Royals, 9-8, in the opening game of the Amherst Girls Softball Majors division.

The Royals scored the first run of the game. The Devil Rays came back with three runs by Alyssa Presutti, Grace Phillips and Mary Margaret Maliszak. Two runs were scored by the Royals in the top of the second.

The Royals held the Devil Rays in the second and scored one more in the third. The Devil Rays then scored twice in the third and three runs in the fourth to take an 8-4 lead.

Devil Ray pitcher Rachel Gewurz struck out two Royal batters and caught a high fly ball to hold the Royals in the fourth inning. The Royals scored four runs in the top of the fifth and final inning, due to darkness, to tie the game. In the bottom of the fifth, Morgan Mathien and Dana Macchia led off the inning with walks, stole a base and then Alyssa Presutti got a hit to score Morgan Mathian to win the game.

Devil Ray pitchers Alyssa Presutti and Rachel Gewurz combined to strike out 12 Royal batters.

Braves 15, Brewers 2

The Braves opened up on offense with hits from Jane Truesdell, Marley Weinstein, Jenny Gilbert and Anna Hentzman. Ashley MacComber had a double and Cat O'Brien had two scores while Becca Deshner added a great defensive display. Jessica Lawson anchored first base beautifully and Lauren Wehner hit five for five at the plate.

Brewers ace hurler Kelsey Hughes turned in a courageous performance on the mound. She received defensive support from Pam Guerrero, Marissa Loos, Shannon Lawler and Mary Rose Fridey.

Braves 13, Sox 2

The Braves got on the scoreboard in the second on hits and runs from Ashley MacComber and Lauren Wehner. Lexi White, Catherine O'Brien and MacComber added three more in the third.

The Sox answered back with two runs in the fourth by Tori Mendiola and Ashley Culterra. The Sox had dynamite defensive performances by Bobbi Walls, Claire Haumesser, who had a throw out at second, and pitcher Tori Mendiola (four strikeouts).

The Braves finally broke it open in the bottom of the fifth with eight runs from Jane Truesdell, Anna Heintzman, Lauren Wehner, Megan Schleicher, Marley Weinstein, Jessica Lawson, Ashley MacComber and Becca Deschner to lead the Braves to victory.

Ashley MacComber had a great outing on the mound. Megan Schleicher, Truesdell, Lexi White, Lawson and Catherine O'Brien made clutch catches.

Braves 15, Royals 2

Hard hits were hammered out by Julia Lynch, Lauren Wehner, Amy LaVere, Marley Weinstein, Jane Truesdell and Megan Schleicher.

Anna Heintzman, Catherine O'Brien, Ashley MacComber, Jessica Lawson and Becca Deschner provided courageous catches.

Alison Novak and Halley Adams provided the offensive output for the Royals.

Senior division

Yankees 11, Athletics 9

The Yankees got on the scoreboard first and never looked back in defeating the Athletics, 11-9.

The Yankees scored first with a run in the third inning, but the bats really opened up in the fourth as they pounded out seven more runs.

The Athletics answered back with six runs of their own but could never totally catch up. With the bases loaded, two outs, and down by two runs in the bottom of the seventh, the Athletics had a chance to tie or win the game, but pitcher Kristen Brignone managed to handcuff the batter to fly out back to the pitcher for the final out.

One noticeable offensive highlight came in the bottom of the fifth. The Athletics were threatening to tie the game with a runner on third. Kate Gambles hit a fly ball to right fielder Taylor Ramsey, who made the catch and threw the ball to third base and catching Cristina Irizarry off guard for the third out.

' AAA'

Mudcats 8, Rattlers 6

Behind the pitching of Laura Matthews, the Mudcats started their season with a strong opening game. Matthews allowed only one run through three innings.

Strong at the plate for coach Craig Fenter's team were Angel Criden, Haley Ernst, Samantha Fenter, Alexa Jadoch, Samantha Klinkman, Jessie Rohl, Katie Arthur and Gabi Smith.

The Mudcats' strong play in the field by Anna Kistner, along with the one-two defense of Jennifer and Michelle Miranda, backed up the team's strong pitching.

Allison Fenter played well at the plate and picked up her first save of the season.

Starring for the Rattlers were Kim Mazurowski, Tess Andrews, Katherine Simonian, Laura Craez, Cathy Scrime, Kelly Rupp, Haley Laducca, Anna Ferry and Rachel Winnert.

Mudcats 13, Owls 12 Jennifer Miranda's strong play at the plate and in the field led the Mudcats to their second win of the season.

The Mudcats were a hitting machine with Haley Ernst, Samantha Fenter, Alexa Jadoch, Anna Kistner, Laura Matthews, Michelle Miranda, Katie Arthur and Jessie Rohl all hitting.

Gabi Smith, Allison Fenter and Angel Criden were strong in the field for the Mudcats. Samantha Klinkman picked up her first save of the season and was strong at the plate.

The Owls were led by the catching and hitting of Andrea Cohen, the hitting and defense of Lindsey Laetner and the all-around play of Madison Zeis and Amy Lavere.

Lookouts 17, Volcanoes 6

Samantha Campbell and Faye Conley each hit doubles. Lauren Mitchell provided great play behind the plate.

The Volcanoes had great pitching by Jordan Weinstein and hitting by Rachel Whalen.

Bats 16, Bees 14

Top hitters for the Bats were Melissa Wolf, Elise Faut and Abby Ferenzy while the Bees were led at the plate by Caroline Conway and Alison Delano.

Great defensive plays were turned in by the Bats' Alyssa Curtis and Annike Carlo, while the defensive stars were Annie Marren and Emma Murphy.

Grasshoppers 11, Rattlers 4

Anna Laduca of the Rattlers had an awesome double, matching the double by Haven Mugleston of the Grasshoppers.

Rohana Sinha, Sally Fors, Briana Bonafede, and Jessica Oleary of the Grasshoppers each scored two runs.

Defensively, both teams showed good pitching in this early season. Grasshoppers' Sally Fors had two innings of scoreless pitching.

' AA'

Muck Dogs 20, River Cats 20

The Muck Dogs and River Cats put together a solid hitting effort. Muck Dogs' Hannah Sykes and Amanda Stockman led the way with three hits each. River Cat C.C. Rapp also had a huge day with three hits.

Defensively, Muck Dog McKenna O'Rourke had two putouts at first base.

Knights, Bats

The Knights had a great day with Olivia Rinaldo and Abby Nerogic at bat. The Bats' Angela Gerth and Olivia Gamziukas had hits as well.

The Knights' defense was led by excellent plays in the field from Heather Lee Krahel, Cheryl Moehrle and Alia Zeid.

The Bats' Theresa Gerth and McKenna Dean also made great plays.

Storm, Knights

In the first inning, Christine Aguglia singled, followed by a single from Stacy Brown. Shortstop Leah Marsack made a great stop to keep the Knights runner at third.

In the second inning, Ashleigh Lymburner made two incredible outs at second to hold the Knights' scoring down. Pitcher Nicole Stuber posed a challenge for the Knights when she caught the third out and rallied the Storm.

In the third inning, Knight Mary Crumlish fielded an out at first, and catcher Kaylyn Wertz made an out at home plate.

The fourth inning had the Storm batting strong with great defensive plays by the Knights.