May
8, 2005
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| Megan Flood went the distance on a four hitter as No. 8 Old Tappan advanced to the Round of 16 where it will face No. 9 Paramus next weekend. | |
OLD TAPPAN -- It had been a tough 7 1/2 innings for the Old Tappan softball team. Coming off a shutout loss to Indian Hills in a regular season game on Friday, the Knights then took the field first in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday afternoon and saw a hit batter, a base hit and two walks put them in another hole before they even got a chance to swing the bats.
But after
a pop out ended the top of the first inning with the bases still full of New
Milford (13-7) runners, Old Tappan made up for lost time. The Knights sent
10 batters to the plate, scored six times and cruised home to a 9-1 win that
puts them in the second round of the tournament after missing it all together
last season.
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| Francesca Perrone had one of New Milford's four hits and scored its only run. |
"I think getting back in the county tournament after not being here last year, the kids were real pumped up for it," said Old Tappan head coach Melissa Landeck. "They were excited and I think it might have been a little bit of nerves in that first inning. But once we got settled in, we got some runs and I think we played a very good all around game."
Stephanie Cintron, a left-hander slap hitter, opened Old Tappan's half of the first by punching a single through a drawn in infield and Cindy Bagnoli then sacrificed her to second. Lauren Dinsdale followed with a walk and Alex Rodriguez then gave OT the lead for good with a well struck double that scored Cintron and Dinsdale for a 2-1 Knights lead.
Before
the inning was over, Rebekah Demarest doubled in a run, Megan Flood did the
same and Kate Smithson knocked in Keri Luethke and courtesy runner Carolyne
Rota with the last of OT's five hits in the inning.
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| Alex Rodriguez had two hits and drove in three runs for Old Tappan. |
"Once we got those first two runners on base, I knew that somebody was going to knock them in and I was just trying to get the bat on the ball," said Rodriguez, who finished with two hits in four trips to the plate with 3 RBI and a run scored. "We have a lot of team unity this year and even after we lost [to Indian Hills on Friday], we knew that we would be able get it back together. Scoring those runs early really helped us out."
New Milford
starter Rebecca McClure is a freshman who was making her first tournament
start for a program that is not necessarily accustomed to being in the field.
She went the distance and allowed six hits over the final six innings to keep
her team hanging around until Old Tappan (15-4) padded its lead in the fourth.
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| Christina McCann is the only senior in New Milford's starting lineup. |
Cintron and Bagnoli each singled to start that frame and Dinsdale then reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases in front of Rodriguez, who blooped a single to knock in OT's fifth run. Demarest singled home Bagnoli and Luethke knocked in Dinsdale with a sacrifice fly to close the game's scoring.
The run support that was missing in Friday loss came in bunches on Saturday for OT starter Megan Flood, who could have gotten by with much less. After allowing a hit and two walks, including the free pass to Christi Schimel that forced in Francesca Perrone with the game's first run, in the opening inning, Flood allowed little else.
She allowed just three harmless singles over the final six innings, did not walk a batter over that stretch and finished with six strikeouts in picking up her 14th win of the season. Old Tappan, the tournament's No. 8 seed, will take on No. 9 Paramus, a 6-0 winner over Queen of Peace on Saturday, in next weekend's Round of 16.
"Just to gain a little momentum and a little confidence in the tournament was a big part of today's win," said Landeck. "We were playing at home and we were up against a quality team, so it was nice to see us capitalize when we got runner's in scoring position, which is something we will need next week."
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