Story by Frank Rizzo
SLATE HILL — June 4, 2013 — Livingston Manor scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Chapel Field 10-9 in Saturday’s Section IX-Class D softball championship game at Minisink Valley HS in Slate Hill.
The Lady Wildcats face Afton (20–1), the top rated Class D team in the state, on the same field today at 3:30 p.m. in the opening round of the state tourney. The winner advances to the state semifinals on Saturday at the Adirondack Sports Complex in Queensbury.
The score was knotted at 9-9 and senior Samantha Scott was on third base when Jordan Miller bounced back to pitcher Karen Schaper. Scott took off when the hurler threw to first to nab Miller, and slid under the tag to beat the throw from first baseman Sami Cerone to the plate and scored the winning run.
The win marked the fourth straight sectional championship for the Lady Wildcats, who won Class D state titles in 2010 and 2011. Scott was a member of both of those championship squads, and not only did she score the winning run, her two-run double earlier in the inning had closed the gap to 9-8. An errant throw on the play allowed the tying run to score and put Scott on third.
Schaper walked the first four batters in the inning to allow the first of the comeback runs and set up Scott’s heroics.
Freshman Katie Rau earned the win for Manor (8–8).
Manor had split its two regular season Division V games with the Lady Lions, winning 14-2.
“We expected a tough game,” co-coach Kevin Clifford said of Chapel Field. “They played well defensively behind [Schaper] and capitalized on our errors.”
Regarding Afton, Clifford said, “They’re solid. They have a strong program year-in and year-out.”
Clifford learned about Afton (Section IV) from Hancock coach Kim Makowski. Leading the Scarlet Knights is soph pitcher Cassidy Phillips.
“She’s throwing consistently in the mid-sixties,” Clifford said of the hurler’s speed.
Another eye-opening statistic about Afton – they defeated Section IV Class A champion Maine-Endwell in a tournament earlier this season and swept Class B Section IV semifinalist Chenengo Valley.