Early Mistakes, Missed Opportunities Doom Raiders

Stuart is no stranger to lopsided victories on the softball diamond. The Raiders have suffered their fair share of ugly losses too. A match up with Mount Vernon Thursday fell into the latter category, as the Majors jumped ahead early and built the lead to 14-0, prompting a fifth inning finish that gives the Raiders consecutive losses.

Gellaine Gayona settled down over her four innings of work, giving up nine runs over the first two innings before retiring five of the next six batters she faced. One run in the second was unearned after a popup was dropped that would have ended the inning. The final out eventually came when Madeline Liberti made a perfect, one hop throw from centerfield to get a runner at home plate.

After getting out of the third inning allowing just a double, Gayona sent down the first two batters of the fourth. The wheels came off a bit at that point, as Gayona loaded the bases and walked in a run before giving up a bases clearing double to Tamara Warren.

The Raiders offense had appeared to begin figuring out Mount Vernon pitcher Olivia Compton, who allowed just a first inning single to Claudia Cooksey before running into trouble into the third. After Gayona reached first on an error, Kelsey Martinez drew a walk and Julia Solem reached on a passed ball after striking out. Stuart couldn’t capitalize though, as Liberti popped out to first to end the threat.

The teams traded quick half innings in the fourth and fifth. The Raiders were unable to create another rally in the bottom of the fourth, as Miranda Carroll relieved Compton and struck out the side. Erica Payne then pitched a scoreless top half of the fifth for Stuart.

With the game essentially secure, the Raiders again managed to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but failed to see results on the scoreboard. Warren came in to pitch for the Majors and gave up a leadoff double to Kellie Duncan and hit Karla Benitez-Sorto before recording the first out. Sara Peters then reached on a fielder’s choice after an error on a force play at third base to load the bases. A Solem grounder led to a force at home plate, and Cooksey’s groundout ended the game.

The Raiders have now lost their last two games by a combined score of 30-8 after winning their previous two by a total of 47-10, which included a 31-4 rout of Falls Church. Stuart may finally see an even match up when they take on Washington-Lee on Monday, April 25, after FCPS returns from spring break. The Generals fell to the Majors 5-3 earlier this year, and hold a 3-7 overall record.