H.S. SOFTBALL: Wildcats hold on to beat Riverhawks in classic semifinal

Madison Camadine got the win on the mound for the Wildcats and Leigha Wiley took the loss for the Riverhawks.

Maple Hill was up 6-2 in the third and Coxsackie-Athens cut it to 6-5 with one inning left to go. However, the Wildcats stayed sharp on defense in the seventh, holding the Riverhawks’ tying run stranded on second base to end the game.

Wiley had a bit of a rough Inning to start the contest in the top half of the first for the Riverhawks. With a runner aboard, Kate Brodzinski and Kate Ackerman hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead. Then Sam Manning worked a walk and Emily Coffey followed it up with an RBI base hit as well, making it 3-0 in favor of Maple Hill.

Camadine went to the mound in the bottom of the first and gave up a leadoff base hit to Jasa Cruz on the first pitch. Then Julia Grounds laid down a perfect bunt to draw three Maple Hill defenders in toward the ball and she made it safely to first without a throw. Riley Sitcer stepped in and rifled an RBI single into left field to cut the lead to 3-1.

Wiley came up and sent a ground ball to short, fielded by Brodzinski who, without hesitation, turned and fired to third to get the lead runner. Brooke Miller hit a sacrifice fly to center to move Sitcer to third base.

Bella Bushane grounded a ball to second base, gathered by Olivia Mueller. All Mueller had to do was flip it to first but she threw it full power and the first baseman couldn’t handle the throw, allowing a run to score and the Riverhawks cut the lead to 3-2.

With one runner on in the Wildcats’ second, Mueller popped one up to left field but Julia Grounds could not secure the catch and everyone was safe. Emma Dugan took advantage of the mishap and hit a towering fly ball over Grounds’ head in left.

One score to make it 4-2 Maple Hill, but the ball was hit too hard for it to go for anything more than a single. Brodzinski came up next and laced an RBI single to the outfield as well and pushed the lead to 5-2.

Wiley settled down and struck out Ackerman and got Manning to ground out to second base to escape the inning without further damage. The Riverhawks were retired in order in the bottom half this time and had no threat of runners in scoring position this time around.

Maple Hill added one more in the top of the third after moving a runner to third base with two away. Sydney Rogers got up and hit a bloop single that dropped in shallow center field in front of the center fielder and drove in one to make it 6-2 Wildcats.

After a walk by Mueller, Dugan hit a ball high and deep to left field and Julia Grounds made an outstanding catch moving backwards toward the fence for the third out. With two outs and two on for C-A in the bottom of the frame, Bushane pulled a two run base hit past third base to cut the lead down to 6-4 with plenty of time left for the Riverhawks.

Unfortunately for the Riverhawks, the Wildcats’ defense kept making incredible plays and stops on the ball to limit their ability to keep runners aboard. Grounds got even better in left field on the flip side for C-A, making yet another stellar catch after spinning around almost 360 degrees to keep the ball in her glove and stay on her feet.

Maple Hill answered again though, Emily Coffey running in from center this time, and laying out on a dive toward the infield to make an incredible catch on a ball batted by Kasey Purdy to end the bottom half of the fifth.

Wiley was in trouble again in the sixth with runners in scoring position for the Wildcats, but she dug down deep and got a huge strikeout of Alyssa Martin for the third out to get out of the jam. With two away in the bottom of the sixth and Cruz on second base, Grounds dropped a base hit into shallow center and Cruz came around to score to give her an RBI.

Grounds was awarded third base after she was already on her way there when Maple Hill lost a throw out of bounds on the play. With the score 6-5 and the tying run on third base, Sitcer grounded out to third to end the threat and the Wildcats tiptoed out of danger with the lead still intact.

Still down 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh, Wiley led off and popped out to Manning at first base in foul territory, not a good start for the Riverhawks.

Miller was next and poked a base hit to right field; she represented the tying run. Bushane followed it up with a rip down the third base line with enough speed on it to take the ball deep into left field. The relay came in to the cut-off just outside the infield and Miller could not beat the throw to the plate and was tagged out by the catcher. Bushane made it to second on the play for a double so she was in scoring position still as the tying run for C-A.

Unfortunately for the Riverhawks, Purdy grounded out to shortstop for the third and final out as the Maple Hill Wildcats held on and defeated Coxsackie-Athens, 6-5. Maple Hill earned a spot in the Patroon finals and will play Chatham on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Ichabod Crane’s field for the regular season championship.