Softball: Lakeland Victorious Against Yorktown

Both Lakeland and Yorktown softball pitchers Katie Champagne and Ashley Robinson did a great job in holding down the opposition in their contest on April 29. Champagne, however, was able to get more offensive support, and that was the difference in Lakeland’s 5-1 triumph against the visiting Huskers (3-7).

Champagne picked up the victory for the 5-3 Hornets by going the distance, allowing just six hits, striking out six and giving up just two walks.

“I was able to do good job because I was able to throw the pitches that were called and I had a great defense behind me,” Champagne said.

Lakeland coach Joe Chiara talked about the adjustments that the coaching staff made with Champagne that helped enable her to be successful against the Huskers.

“We had her throw a little bit more,” Chiara said. “We found that she was struggling early on in the games and we talked about her warming up a little bit more. She seemed to get stronger later in the games with the first couple of games that we had. So we had her warm-up a little bit more and throw a little bit more and get in a groove, right from inning one right through inning seven. It showed today on the mound.”

Robinson also was successful, striking out nine, giving up only one walk and two hits in five innings pitched.

“I thought Ashley pitched a great game; she did a great job keeping us in the game,” Yorktown coach John McKenna said. “I trust Ashley. I also trust Nicole Wilson, who I brought in afterwards.”

Lakeland took the lead when it scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kaitlin Simmons started the one-out rally with a single, before Lindsay Dring reached base on an error. An RBI single by Felicia Constanzo knocked in Simmons, and Dring scored on a sacrifice fly by Jada Draffin.

The Huskers then cut the Hornets’ lead in half, with a run of their own in the sixth inning. With two outs, Leanne Farmer singled, advanced to second on a single by Marly Becker before scoring on an error.

Lakeland  was able to add to its lead with three big runs in the sixth. Simmons started the rally with the walk and eventually scored on an error. Dring and Constanzo also scored on errors for the Hornets in that frame, giving Champagne some key insurance runs to work with in the final inning.

“It was crucial because it allowed me to relax and do what I had to do to end the game,” Champagne said.

What she had to do was overcome a tough Yorktown squad that loaded the bases after two outs were recorded. They accomplished this on three straight singles by Lindsay Fedro, Mia Wenzel and Wilson, but Champagne was able to get Farmer to pop up to second to end the game.

“We battled,” McKenna said. “When you come back, have bases loaded and have the opportunity to tie the game, you have to take that out of us.”

McKenna’s squad will continue to battle when it travels to Arlington at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, May 2. On that same day and time, the Hornets will host Mahopac.

Where they will host the Indians was not known after the game. If the field at Lakeland High School is playable, the Hornets will return to their normal home field. If not, the Hornets will be back at the administration field, the same site as the game against the Huskers.

“We just have to keep getting better on the defensive end,” Chiara said. “On the offensive end, we have to work on hitting the ball to all parts of the field. One of the things that we have talked about with the girls is hitting the ball consistently on the offensive end and using the whole field. If we are able to do that, there are a lot of wins out there that we will be able to get.”