The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Madison nets playoff victory over Hamilton
Blue Devils plate 6 in 6th to pull away from Hamilton Emerald Knights
MADISON » Madison appeared to be on the verge of several big innings in it’s Section III Class D playoff softball game against Hamilton on Tuesday but ended up leading just 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.
In their last turn at bat, the Blue Devils broke through in a big way.
Courtney Cochran’s two-run double was the big hit during a six-run frame that allowed the hosts to pull away for an 9-2 victory over the Emerald Knights, a rare victory over their neigh- bors from the south.
“It was great,” said Cochran of the win. “It was wonderful. It had been a long time.”
The senior allowed seven hits and just one earned run over her seven innings of work for the No. 7 seed, walking none and striking out one. The defense behind her was strong throughout, including a strong game from freshman Heidi Lewis in right field that drew praise from coaches on both sides of the diamond.
“(Lewis) made some plays today,” said Madison coach Elaine Hogan. “She’s a freshman, did phenomenal. Came up key on a double play for us.”
Emily McCann went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for No. 10 Hamilton in defeat. Beth Belanger took the loss in the circle, getting several key outs through the first five innings to keep her team in the game before struggling in the sixth.
“I think our youth came
through a little bit,” said Hamilton coach Bill Dowsland. “We’re very, very young. We have four eighth graders, four ninth graders; mistakes are going to happen. This is their first experience at sectional softball and we just made a couple mistakes and Madison put together a couple hits. At this time of the year, that’s the difference between winning and losing. Madison played outstanding.”
The Emerald Knights jumped out to an early lead when Lauren Rodriguez reached on a two-out error and scored on an Olivia Dow double in the top of the first.
Beth Belanger worked around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first before the hosts claimed the lead in their turn at bat in the second. Kayla Usborne reached on an error to lead off and stole second with Elissa Usborne batting. The older sister then lined a single to the outfield and the younger scored on an error on the play to tie the score. Elissa Usborne took second on the play and moved to third on a wild pitch to Cochran, who would work a walk. Baileigh Strong followed with an RBI single, putting Madison ahead 2-1. Strong stole second but Belanger limited the damage with three straight strikeouts to get out of the inning.
Hamilton saw three close calls in the top of the third inning go against it, drawing the ire of the players, coaches and fans alike. Although the Blue Devils scratched across another run in the bottom of the frame when Halle Hauck led off with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Kierston Abrams, the Emerald Knights kept their cool and kept the game close.
“We didn’t allow those bad calls to affect them,” said Dowsland. “They put it on me to handle and that’s the sign of a class team. I’m really proud of our girls. We had tremendous growth throughout the year and we’ll be back.”
His team inched closer in the top of the fifth. Beth Dawkins was hit by a pitch to lead off and made her way over to third after a sacrifice bunt by Kelly Bassett. McCann followed with an RBI groundout, scoring Dawkins to close the gap to 3-2.
Hamilton had a pair of hard-hit balls to Lewis in right field in the top of the sixth but the freshman caught both, setting up the big inning for Madison in the bottom of the frame. A walk and an error started the rally before a wild pitch to Hauck advanced the runners. She followed with an RBI single before Abrams singled and Kayla Usborne walked to load the bases. Elissa Usborne added to the lead with an RBI sin- gle before Cochran roped a two-run double over the left fielder’s head, extending the lead to 8-2 and ending Beth Belanger’s day in the circle.
“I wasn’t expecting it but when it came out I was just glad we all got around the bases quick so that’s all I wanted,” Cochran said. “It was great because I was getting nervous so when it came through it was awesome.”
The senior pitcher retired the first two batters in the top of the seventh before allowing consecutive singles. Hamilton, however, made the final out of the game at third base.
“It’s just been a really weird year,” said Hogan. “We’ve played eight games in the past week and we’ve played different teams and we never knew what we were going to face. Definitely a great start. We have a young team, we’re very young, so definitely a good experience builder too.”
Madison advances to the quarterfinals with the victory and will face Central Counties League rival and No. 2 seed Stockbridge Valley on Thursday.