Younger Division

 

Friedman- Brueggemeyer Purple Crushers 8, Moneyballers Red Panthers 15

 

The Crushers opened the first inning with solid hits to the outfield by Blaze Goldstein, Avery Rasband, Taylor Kempf, and Skye Frank.  Defensively, the Panthers’ pitcher Eleven Thewlis fielded a grounder and tossed it to Layla Souza at shortstop for a force out at second base.  The Panthers managed two more outs, holding the Crushers to three runs.   In the bottom of the first inning, leadoff batter Asia Brantley hit a powerful fly ball to Crushers’ shortstop Blaze who caught it for an out.  The Panthers followed with a solid double by Hannah Morse and an outfield single by Sarah Morse.  Crusher Emily Camp in right center field showed quickness and arm strength in fielding both these hits.  The Panthers made six runs in bottom of the first.

 

The top of the second opened with hits by Crushers Eliana Rosen-Bloom, Arasani Lechuga, and Imogene Carlos.  The Crushers had loaded the bases and had pushed two runs across the plate when the momentum changed quickly.  Batter Gillian Monahan-Miller blasted a red-hot line drive to Panther Jazmin Terry at first base.  Jazmin caught the ball on the fly and stepped on the base for a double play; she then made the long throw to Sarah at third who tagged the base, beating the runner back to the bag and completing a triple-play.  In the bottom of the second inning the Panthers batted their full line-up, including infield hits by Delilah Whitaker, Lena Anderson, and Kate Henderson, to push six runs across the plate.

 

In the top of the third inning, the Crusher Sonya Love opened with a single. Taylor added a double and Anya Chytrowski and Gabby Clewans added singles.  Panther Layla at third base caught a sky-high pop-up to get one of three outs, holding the Crushers to three runs.  In the bottom of the third inning, Panthers Dixie Lewis, Camille Lussier, and Kira Holmberg all hit solid infield singles.  Defensively, the inning was handled by Crushers Jayna Frank at third base with two single-handed force outs and Skye Frank at first base with one single-handed out.  The Panthers were held to three runs in the inning.

 

Moneyballers Red Panthers Kira advances to second base on a bases-loaded single by Jazmin in the third inning.  Photo by Jason Holmberg

 

Five Little Monkeys Chocolate Chickens 10, Nest Egg Blue Jays 12

 

The Chocolate Chickens started the game on defense with three outs by first baseman Kate McNitt! She fielded the ball for two outs at first and caught a beautifully thrown ball by second baseman Helen Ross for another out.  The Blue Jays had a wonderful first inning on defense as well with shortstop Emma Chamberlin rocketing the ball to Kelly Perymon at third base for their first out, and Rachel Kaufman dispensed with two more outs at first base. Highlighting the offense on the Chocolate Chickens were Elizabeth Wing with a strong hit past second base for a single and Aimee Chi Soe with a fly ball into right field nabbing another single.

     For the next two innings, Blue Jays Lillie Benson, Avielle "Avi" Sherman, Sophie Rodriguez-Bell, Elizabeth Schafer, and Seraphina "Beannie" Joseph made an onslaught of base hits and Allison "Allie" Hersh slammed a double straight down the center.

     Chocolate Chickens' offense was raring to go in the second with Aaliyah Kelley hitting a line drive to short stop to get a single and Elka Saaf almost hitting the cover off the ball as it flew into right field for an easy single.

     Highlights of the Blue Jays on defense were Cleo Tufts-Lockhart tagging one runner out at first base, and shortstop Grace Schafer Perry catching a pop fly and then neatly executed a rare DOUBLE PLAY, tagging out a Chocolate Chicken before she could return to first base.