Harrison’s Softball Team Wins In First Round

As you drive onto the campus of Harrison High School, the rocks that stand by the entry way leave little discussion as to who the town's favorite spring team is.

The rocks are painted with every player's name in black and gold, and the words "Is the risk worth the reward? Sections 2010" are painted across the rocks. The team knows their mission and they began it Friday night against Nyack for the first round of the girls softball playoffs.

"In big games Coach Dean always asks, 'Is the risk worth the reward?' meaning that if we try and take a risk during the game it better work," said Harrison's Ashley Marino. "For example stealing home on a pass ball, or if the score is close and the play is close and there are two outs -- is it worth the risk to go for it or not?"

Harrison comes into the tournament as the top seed with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. This season the 19-1 Huskies have won games because of their pitching and fielding, and Friday afternoon was no different.

The Huskies gave the ball to Marino, their ace, and she was as dominant as ever. In her five innings of work Marino never faced a legitimate threat from the Indians -- she only gave up one hit and she walked one batter while collecting eight strikeouts.

"She was outstanding for us today," said Harrison coach Dean Marino. "She made her pitches and she looked very sharp."

In the third inning Marino got help from her defense. The ball was popped up in a foul play and catcher GiGi LoDolce quickly found the ball and dove head first to make the catch at the backstop.

"Every game she does a great job behind the plate," said Harrison sophmore Jenna Webb. "We know she always puts all the effort to get any ball. Today she had one of her many great catches."

Nyack's starting pitcher, Gabby Ryan, pitched well for the Indians but thanks to several errors by her defense, the pitcher was forced to labor and overwork. In the first inning she got out smoothly, but in the second inning the team's fielders handed Harrison a huge opportunity: The first three batters of the inning all reached base on errors.

"Gabby has been working hard for us all year long," said Nyack head coach Mary Ebner. "She has really come to the top of her game now. In the first inning she looked great and so did our fielders, but Harrison is a good hitting team and they hit the ball hard, so eventually we broke down."

Offensively the Huskies had several stars, especially in the middle of the line-up. Harrison's third and forth batters, Jenna Webb and GiGi LoDolce, both had great games. Webb was 3-4 with a ground rule double and scored a run, while LoDolce was 3-4 with a run and a RBI. Marino also had a great day on the plate, going 2-3 with a run and a stolen base.

"I got myself into a pretty good mindset before the game," said Marino. "I knew what my job was to do for our team. I feel like I pitched and hit well today, and the entire team came together to score runs and shut them down early"

The Nyack pitcher went the complete game for the loss. Ryan struck out three batters and didn't give up one walk, but she gave up eleven runs on ten hits and several errors by her and her team.

The Indians anemic offense barely broke through against Marino, but they did manage to score a run on her relief.  Pam Kotorac went 1-3 with a single that didn't even reach the pitcher's circle, and she scored the team's only run. Becky Leone went 1-3 with the RBI.

"Ashley Marino is a great pitcher," said Ebner. "Coming into this game, we knew it was going to be hard to hit her. We knew we were going to face a lot of speed, and a lot of movement. We faced Rye yesterday and their pitcher didn't throw as fast so that may have hurt us as well."

Harrison won the game 11-1 and the victory puts the team one step closer to its goal of becoming section champs. But before they can reach the section championship they will need to defeat a very tough Hen Hud team on Tuesday night.