Eastchester Softball Falls to Pearl River, 8-4

Eagles softball had a tough game against the Pearl River Pirates on Thursday afternoon.

The third-seeded Eagles fell 8-4 to the second-seeded Pirates due to early fielding errors, which their opponents capitalized on with excellent hitting and base-running. 

Both teams entered the game with the same 19-3 record, so they knew they were in for a challenging competition. Though the Eagles settled down after their difficulties in the first two innings and let up no more runs, they were unable to come back for the win.  They generated four more runs, however excellent pitching and fielding from the Pirates kept the Eagles at bay.

Pearl River's Katie O'Flynn retired the side to start the game. Noelle McDonough opened as pitcher for the Eagles with some difficulties.  She walked the first hitter and got an out  on a bunt from Kristyn Neroda. The Pirates then brought in their first run on Jamie DeGennaro's triple to center field, due to an overthrow to the catcher on an attempt to make the play at the plate. Katie O'Flynn then came up and brought in DeGennaro with a line drive double to center field. With bases loaded, McDonough was able to get out of trouble to close the inning with a strikeout and great diving catch by Christiana Galella.

By the bottom of the second, the Eagles still hadn't scored. With bases loaded, Janine Lalli relieved McDonough as pitcher. Katie O'Flynn hit a single to bring home one, which turned into a double to bring home two off an error. Lalli struck out the next batter, however Noreen Jordan came up with double off an overthrow to first which brought the score to 6-0. The Pirates were able to bring two more home off a single and a triple before the Eagles were able to get out of the inning.

The third went scoreless for both teams, with solid pitching and fielding on both sides. With two on and one out in the top of the fourth, Christiana Galella put the Eagles on the board with an RBI double. Then, with two outs, it was Anna Crowley's turn for an RBI single. Briana Barca came up next with a great hustle play to bring home Galella as she turned on the jets to beat the throw to first.  This brought the score to 8-3 at the end of the fourth.

Excellent fielding and pitching by both teams kept anyone from scoring again until the top of the sixth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Noelle McDonough was again up at bat. She hit a shot right to send home Crowley, who made a great slide to beat the throw. Unfortunately, this was to be the last run scored by the Eagles, who ended the game 8-4.

Though they did not let up any more runs from the Pirates, the Eagles were unable recover from the early deficit. Three errors early on led to six runs, which is a difficult thing to recover from. 

"We settled down after the second and played well, however we couldn't come back," said Eastchester Coach Frank Fiore, "When one error leads to another and another, it's a team's worst nightmare and it's tough to recover."

This loss unfortunately brings their post-season to a close, however the team leaves with a record of 19-4, of which they should definitely be proud.