Spotlight on Sports: Sputo’s Near-Perfection Not Enough, As Greeley Eliminates White Plains
In the final start of her brilliant five-year career as the White Plains softball ace, senior Lauren Sputo gave up one hit and struck out 12 in a ten-inning 1-0 loss to Horace Greeley. The defeat eliminated White Plains from the Class AA tournament.
Sputo retired the first ten Horace Greeley batters she faced before yielding a walk in the fourth inning. She didn’t let a ball out of the infield all game, until her counterpart, Greeley pitcher Jamie Weisser, flared a Texas Leaguer into shallow centerfield, scoring the winning run from second base. The runner was on second base because teams start with a runner in scoring position from the tenth inning on.
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“That was the best thing that could have happened,” Weisser said of the rule.
Said Weisser of her game-winning hit: “I knew she was a great pitcher, and I knew she had a lot of rise balls, so what I was trying to do was move back in the box and choke up. Try to make just a little bit of contact and that’s exactly what I did.”
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Weisser also impressed on the mound. She struck out seven and rebounded immediately from a walk to start the game, retiring the next eight hitters and not issuing a free pass until extra innings. All told, Weisser scattered seven runners and went the distance, matching Sputo zero for zero until her tenth inning heroics.
It was a heartbreaking way for the Tigers, and especially the team’s seniors, to exit the Class AA tournament.
“Their contributions as a whole will never be forgotten,” Coach Ted O’Donnell said. “They accomplished a lot when you think about it. We probably averaged 16 or 17 wins a year in those five years. We never had a bad year, that’s for sure.”
As for Sputo, her dominance was par for the course.
“Nothing Lauren does surprises me,” O’Donnell said. “She’s that special a player and she’s that special a leader that she can take an entire team and put them on her shoulders and battle, inning after inning after inning. And it’s just a shame we weren’t able to squeeze one across, but that’s the way it goes.”
White Plains Patch Scoreboard:
White Plains Tigers Weekly Scores
5/26 Class AA Baseball First Round: Suffern 4, White Plains 2
White Plains Star Athlete: Mickey Peroni collected a base hit and drove in a run for White Plains.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday 6/3 - Track and Field. Hastings High @ White Plains. Site: White Plains HS, 5PM.
Archbishop Stepinac Crusaders Weekly Scores:
5/28 CHSAA Baseball Playoffs: Stepinac 4 Bishop Ford 1
Stepinac Star Athlete: Nick Euvino plated two runners with a double in the third inning.
5/29 CHSAA Baseball Playoffs: Xavier 2 Stepinac 1
Stepinac Star Athletes: Greg DiGiacinto and Skylar Mercado combined to allow only two runs.
5/30 CHSAA Baseball Playoffs: Xavier 5 Stepinac 3
Stepinac Star Athlete: Designated hitter Manuel Lara drove in two runs with a single and a double.
Upcoming Games:
No games scheduled.
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