Sullivan County Democrat
O n l i n e  E d i t i o n
www.sc-democrat.com National Award-winning, Family-run Newspaper info@sc-democrat.com
  SPORTS ARCHIVES Established 1891 Callicoon, New York  
home  |  archives

First-Time Winners

Democrat Photo by Frank Rizzo

THE FIRST TIME: Monticello Senior Softball girls’ all-star team celebrated its first District 19 championship last week. Members are, front row from the left: Erin Shuart, Monticello; Holli Schoonmaker, White Lake; Megan Drobysh, Rock Hill; and Tricia Parks, Kiamesha Lake. Back row, from the left: Coach Pat Shuart, Monticello; Samantha Lynch-Stefl, Smallwood; Crystal Forget, Wurtsboro; Amelia Devlin, Forestburgh; Amanda DeSimone, Monticello; and coach James DeSimone, Monticello. Missing from photo were Kim Donohue and Shannon Dietrich of Smallwood, who were away at a national tournament with a Port Jervis-based softball squad.

Monticello Senior Softball
Girls Celebrating

By Frank Rizzo
MONTICELLO — July 28, 2000 – The Monticello Little League Senior girls’ softball team made history when it won its first-ever District 19 title on July 20.
On Wednesday evening, in Albany, it kept its sense of destiny alive with an 11-10 comeback win over Whitehall to clinch a spot in this weekend’s state final four tournament.
Little League Seniors are in the 14-16 age bracket.
“Someone is smiling on us, we keep pulling them out,” said Monticello coach Pat Shuart, a veteran softballer with Frankie’s Restaurant of the Monticello Women’s Softball League. “They’ve been in a zone, and have been playing great defensively. That’s kept us in the games.”
Dispatching Newburgh
In the double elimination District 19 (which comprises all of Orange and parts of Sullivan counties) Tournament the Monticello all-stars, after a win over Wallkill, lost to the Town of Newburgh 9-7 and were dropped into the losers’ bracket.
Monticello then had to beat Cornwall and Warwick before facing Newburgh again.
Megan Drobysh, despite little pitching experience (she played outfield on the Monticello HS jayvee team), went the distance, allowing seven hits and three earned runs as Monticello prevailed 9-4. The losing pitcher, Kristina LeRoy, pitched for the Newburgh Free Academy varsity softball squad this spring.
Tricia Parks slammed a two-out, two-run double in the fourth to put Monticello ahead 5-1. A two-run double by Tricia Kaiser highlighted a four-run sixth which put the game away.
The next evening Amanda Devlin got plenty of support as she hurled an 11-4 win despite fighting exhaustion and a sore back.
Monticello put the game away in the third with eight runs, the big blows a three-run triple by Kaiser and a two-run double by Shannon Dietrich.
On to States
In the opening round of the state tournament, Monticello drubbed the Ulster American 15-2, a game stopped by the 10-run mercy rule after the fifth. Drobysh got the win, pitching a five hitter and getting two hits. Samantha Lynch-Stefl and Donohue also had two hits each.
Monticello then advanced by beating Wappingers Falls 5-2 last Sunday, scoring three times in the ninth. Drobysh got the win in relief of Devlin, who pitched seven innings and limited Wappingers to two runs.
Little League rules state that after five innings on the mound, a pitcher must rest for 24 hours.
Surprise in Albany
The team traveled to Albany to play Whitehall on Thursday and got a surprise.
“We showed up at the field and there were a bunch of very large boys (playing with Whitehall),” Shuart said. “We were told they were allowed to play. I understand it from the legal standpoint, but someone has to address the safety issue.”
Shuart mentioned a near-collision at second base, and a shot off the bat of a batter — both involving boys — which could have resulted in injuries.
Still, Monticello overcame this to pull off a comeback in the bottom of the seventh., Down 10-5, the team used a double by Amanda DeSimone to tie the score. Lynch-Stefl then singled to score Parks with the winning run.
Monticello will play Long Beach in Queens tomorrow in the first of two saturday games in the double-elimination final four tournament.

top of page  |  home  |  archives