Softball

BENNINGTON, Vt. - The Southern Vermont Softball team snapped a 46 game losing streak with a 13-12 win over SUNY-Cobleskill Thursday afternoon at Willow Park. The young Mountaineer squad split the doubleheader losing 11-1 in the second game. Ailish Ryan (Hoosick, N.Y.) had a huge day at the plate going 5-for-8 with four RBI's including a double with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to seal the victory.

"I am very happy for the girl's," said SVC Head Coach Mike Quinn. "They have worked hard since the first practice at becoming fundamentally sound softball players. There hard work paid off today with SVC's first softball win in 46 games! It is also a big step for the program that we are trying to build at Southern Vermont College."

SVC (1-9) jumped ahead in the first inning when Alyssa Davis (Lyndonville, Vt.) blasted a shot to the fence for a two run inside-the-park homerun. Scoring on the shot was Jasmine Martin (Hershey, Pa.) who had singled earlier in the inning.

In the second Casey Kelly of the Fighting Tigers (2-7) ripped an RBI double to left field scoring Anastasia Yakaboski who had reached on an error. Several batters later Danielle Swarm smashed a two RBI single past the Mountaineer infield to give Cobleskill a 3-2 lead. The Mountaineers quickly turned it around when Martin and Davis each hit RBI singles to give SVC a 4-3 lead going into the third.

After a few scoreless innings for both squads Southern Vermont's Kayla Whitman (Bennington, Vt.) crushed an inside-the-park homerun to give SVC a 5-3 lead. The Mountaineers continued to wear down the Tigers pitching with both Ryan and Tiarra Hall (Washington, D.C.) posting RBI singles. Southern Vermont ended the fourth with a 7-3 cushion.

The Tigers were not done fighting when they regained the lead with a five run fifth inning on a Jessica Cole RBI triple, a Kelly RBI single, and several Mountaineer errors. Southern Vermont was down 8-7 and looking for opportunities to score when the Tigers made several costly errors allowing Krystal Poulen (Cheshire, Mass.) and Whitman to cross home plate safely. Amy Balawender (Adams, Mass.) made it 10-8 SVC with a RBI double.

In the sixth inning the Tigers made another comeback and scored three runs on RBI singles by Kristine Gardner, Erika Cole, and an error by the Southern Vermont second baseman Ryan. The Mountaineers could not generate an offensive stance in the sixth and heading into the seventh Cobleskill led 11-10.

The Tigers managed to tack on one more run with an RBI single from Kelly making it 12-10. It seemed to be a "close but no cigar" moment for Southern Vermont when the tides turned in the Mountaineers favor once again.

Davis walked to lead off the seventh for SVC. Cala Colvin (Hoosick Falls, N.Y.) reached on an error by the Tigers pitcher. Next up Balawender reached on an error by the second baseman loading the bases for the Mountaineers who had no outs and more than enough runners on base to win the game. Ryan stroked a line drive double into the gap; clearing the bases and giving Southern Vermont the 13-12 victory.

Ryan led the Mountaineers offensively going 4-for-5 with four RBI's, Davis posted solid numbers as well batting 3-for-3 with three RBI's and scoring four runs. Balawender went 2-for-4 and Martin went 2-for-5 to round out the hitting for SVC. Danielle Tischer (Salem, Conn.) pitched the complete game striking out four and walking six. Tischer improved to 1-6 on the year.

Pitcher Casey Kelly led the Fighting Tigers hitting a solid 3-for-4 knocking in three runs but got the loss on the mound striking out two Mountaineers.

"This team is very young and inexperienced and our goal was to be competitive," said Coach Quinn. "We have accomplished this in seven out of the ten games that we have played. This is a valuable experience for these young players."

In the second game the Fighting Tigers came out scoring nine runs in the first three innings. Southern Vermont could not generate an offensive stance and posted seven errors in the 11-1 loss. Colvin went 2-for-3 and Marianne Mangiapane (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) went 2-for-2 in the game that ended in five innings. Whitman got the loss from the mound while Yakaboski got the win for Cobleskill who improved to 2-7 on the day.

The Mountaineers hit the road this weekend for a doubleheader against Fisher College on Friday and a NECC doubleheader against Becker College on Saturday. Go to www.svcathletics.com for all the scores and highlights.