Amherst Girls Softball League
'Major' Brewers come back to win bronze division crown

The Brewers held off the Phillies to win the Amherst Girls Softball League's "Major" bronze division title, 19-18. Members of the team, pictured from left, are: first row - Katie Long, Emily Fleming, Abigail Cimato, Alyssa Maraszek; second row - Kelsey Hughes, Pam Guerrero, coach Phil Fleming, coach Jeff Hughes, coach Mike Cimato, Taylor Plewinski, Lisa Harb, Sara Bampton, Shannon Lawlor and Merissa Loos.

The "Major" Brewers rallied from an early four-run deficit and held off a furious Phillies' rally to take the bronze division championship with a 19-18 win in Amherst Girls Softball League play.

The Phillies jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead behind a solid team hitting effort and the pitching of Ali Ferenczy, who also had three hits on the day.

The Brewers quickly battled back in the second to close the Phillies' lead to 5-4 behind the aggressive base running of Emily Fleming, Pam Guerrero and Sara Bampton, who scored the first of her four runs.

The Brewers' Kelsey Hughes took the mound in the bottom of the second and quickly retired the Phillies' side on only four pitches. This marked the first of three strong innings for Hughes, who had one of her best pitching efforts of the year.

The inning was highlighted by the stellar defense of Lisa Harb, making her first-ever appearance at third base. Harb grabbed a hot ground ball down the third base line and made the long throw to Shannon Lawlor to retire the Phillies' first batter.

The Brewers briefly took the lead in the top of the fourth, propelled by Lawlor's two-run triple and a two-RBI single by Merissa Loos. Alyssa Maraszek also contributed a key single and kept the Brewers alive by sliding in to second to avert a forced out. The feisty Phillies fought back, however, led by Molly Kuranski with one of her two hits on the day. The Phillies ended the fourth, holding on to an 11-10 lead.

The Brewers took the lead for good with six runs in the fifth. Loos' two-RBI double started the rally, and heads-up base running by Katie Long and catcher Taylor Plewinski resulted in some key Brewer runs. Plewinski had her best game of the season behind the plate, anchoring the Brewers' defense for all six innings.

Fleming took the mound for the Brewers in the bottom of the fifth and quickly struck out three batters with her blazing fastball. The Brewers added to their lead when Maraszek cleared the bases with a three-run single.

The Phillies refused to give up and rallied to score seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, pulling to within 19-18. Alyson Ferenczy had the second of her two hits on the night, and Ali Brace scored the third of her three runs.

The Brewers called on reliever Abigail Cimato, who had played a great game at shortstop, to stop the Phillies' onslaught. Always good in a pinch, Cimato quickly retired the first batter she faced.

Shortly thereafter, Loos fielded a grounder to second and tossed the ball to Lawlor for the final out, sealing the Brewers' first-ever championship.