STRATFORD TAKES DOWN CY RIDGE

York Supports Own Cause With 4 RBIs

On Tuesday the JV Lady Spartans traveled to take on the Cy Ridge Rams. Before anyone had even settled in, Kenna Wong was lining a ball into left field for her first of two hits and stealing second into a face full of rubberized turf. Anna Burgman, Laura De La Rosa, Emerson Hiler, and Mackenzie York subsequently reached base on a walk and three hit batters. Hiler's and York’s beanings earned them RBIs, forcing home first Wong and then Burgman.

Isla Hildebrand and Bella Sulma singled, plating Hiler and loading the bases to bring Wong to bat for the second time in the inning. She blasted another hit into the left-center field gap which would have cleared the bases but for the statutory 5-run limit. Wong was forced to settle for one RBI because of the rulebook, a small taste of the regulatory state soon to engulf her palate in the coming decades.

In the bottom of the first, York took the ball in the circle for the first time this season. The smooth-tossing lefty worked gamely, showing no nerves if any were present, and earning a strikeout of the Rams’ dangerous 3-hole hitter. The second out came courtesy of the pickoff stylings of Kenna Wong, who killed the baserunning dreams of a Cy Ridge runner at third base, where she has euthanized so many such dreams this season. However, the third out eluded York and the Lady Spartans and the inning ended in a 5-5 tie.

Thereafter the teams’ fortunes diverged, as in the final two innings Stratford batted without making an out and did not allow a Cy Fair batter to reach base. In the second, Kate Sanantonio, Anna Burgman, Allie Richardson, De La Rosa, and Hiler scored, with RBIs by Burgman, De La Rosa, and York. The Rams' pitcher began to look like she was trapped in a doomed submarine, and when Burgman lined a ball off the center field wall, it issued a metallic BONNGGG hauntingly reminiscent of the desperate strike of a submariner’s wrench against the inside of a sunken hull.

In the third inning, Coach Salinas sent a wave of new batters to the plate with similar results. Leila Vazquez, Keely Meeks, and Shelby Thibodeaux loaded the bases for Allie Richardson, who lined a ball into the left-center gap to drive in two. Thibodeaux would eventually score as would Richardson and Dulce Soto, courtesy of York’s fourth RBI and Hildebrand’s second. Cacey Valencia was left on base.

Meeks came in to close the game, retiring the final 6 Rams in order, with 5 strikeouts and a flyout to Soto.

STRATFORD SCORES KNOCKOUT IN ROUND ONE VS. MEMORIAL

Spartans Keep Undefeated Season Intact

Although the JV Spartans opened their 2024 series with Memorial at the Front Yard on the first day of spring, for the Mustangs it must have felt like deepest winter. Keely Meeks took the circle and pitched a no-hit shutout thanks to some sparkling defensive plays behind her, and the offense produced 9 runs to secure a victory that was never in doubt, extending their record to 7-0-1.

The most energy created by Memorial all afternoon were by their first two batters, both of whom hit the ball hard but were eliminated by Laura De La Rosa’s snare of a line drive to right and then by Kate Sanantonio’s handling of a hot smash to second. Meeks then tallied the first of her 7 strikeouts to close the frame.

The first four Spartan batters walked, the last of whom brought leadoff hitter Kenna Wong home and loaded the bases for Allie Richardson. For the second straight game, Richardson produced a bases-loaded line-drive hit, which cleared the bases – hold on, checking notes -- here it says that Meeks did not advance past third, limiting Richardson to plating Sanantonio and Wookie Grunenberg. Anna Burgman put a ball in play to bring Meeks home at last, and Laura De La Rosa doubled to score Richardson and complete the 5-spot.

Meeks struck out the side in the 2nd, bringing the Spartans back to bat. Mackenzie York slashed a liner to left and Isla Hildebrand tripled down the right field line. Sanantonio skillfully executed a sacrifice bunt to bring Hildebrand home and extend the Spartan lead to 7-0.

A moment of drama occurred in the third inning, as with two outs a Mustang batter hit a tailing, dipping liner to right, surely destined to end the no-hitter. Yet De La Rosa glided in with the steely composure of Sully Sullivan after a bird strike and snatched it inches from the ground.

The Spartans added two more runs in the third, produced by Shelby Thibodeaux’s single, Dulce Soto running out a dropped third strike,  and Sophia Lozada bringing them around with a mash into the right-center field gap.

The JV Lady Spartans next travel to Jersey Village on Tuesday, March 26.