By Ted Waddell
LIVINGSTON MANOR — May 11, 2004 – All it took for the Livingston Manor Lady Wildcats to win their first game of the softball season was a plate of cupcakes.
Of course, a few runs helped as well.
On Thursday afternoon, host Livingston Manor defeated the Lady Comets of Fallsburg, 19-7, in a non-league game.
Prior to the contest, Jennifer Taggart, Manor’s senior first baseman, baked up a batch of cupcakes filled with cream cheese and chocolate chips for her teammates, which apparently paved the way for the win. Taggart went 4-for-5, smacking a triple and a couple of singles. She also had two RBI.
Manor (1-6) jumped out with six runs in the opening frame.
In the second inning, Fallsburg got two of those runs back to make it a 6-2 game.
After a couple of scoreless innings, both teams sent runners across the plate in the fifth. The Lady Comets scored three runs, and Manor replied by sending four runners all the way home.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Wildcats – perhaps dreaming of some of those aforementioned cupcakes – decided to stage a slugfest as they scored nine runs.
Fallsburg (0-8) fought back in the top of the seventh with two runs, but it was a case of too little, too late.
Karen Perrello pitched a complete game for the Lady Comets.
Manor sent two pitchers to the mound: Ashley Taggart and Dayna Manell.
Lady Wildcats Emily Dalrymple and Heather Sherwood each recorded three hits and three RBI in the contest.
For Fallsburg, Jamie Cruz and Rachel Feller each registered two hits.
“We tried not to give up and we kept fighting, but sometimes the breaks don’t go your way,” Fallsburg Coach Mike Weiner said.
He said that with “a lot of miscues” in the first inning, his team lost a bit of its momentum.
“I thought we did well, as we had a tremendous middle of the game . . . we held ‘em tight,” Weiner added. “But again in the end, the miscues hurt.”
Manor Coach Gail Denman said that she has a young pitching staff this year.
Manor lost both of last season’s star hurlers, Alys Mann and Jennifer Wright, to graduation.
“Today was the first time the girls were hitting aggressively, and, for the most part, our defense is pretty good,” Denman said.