SPORTS

Hatley tattoos ball as her 6 RBI lead Somers past Clarkstown North; Sputo nearly perfect, K's 17 in White Plains shutout of Greeley

Nancy Haggerty
nhaggerty@lohud.com

Sorry for the posting delay. A few technical problems on my end. Below is the game I covered in Somers (dateline Lincolndale reflects the general hamlet area), as well as a few extra notes about that game and a brief "Best of the rest" write-up about the other three softball games that were played.

Despite so few games, a few remarkable individual performances occurred, including, but not limited to, Danielle Sputo's 17-strikeout, near-perfect game for White Plains and Kristyn Hatley's six-RBI game for Somers.

There are no games today but we'll get back into full swing tomorrow.

LINCOLNDALE It wasn’t exactly a rebellious, don’t-tread-on-me, fear-provoking tattoo.

Nah. The large blue art adorning Somers third baseman Kristyn Hatley’s left arm Saturday was actually a hand print, a reminder of a fun, Friday tie-dye project.

“I tried to wash it off,” Hatley said, although adding, considering what occurred, Tuskers coach Meredith Polansky jokingly said she should keep it.

Because if the tie-dye wasn’t exactly intimidating, Hatley’s bat sure was.

The senior went 4 for 4 and drove in six runs Saturday -- the last three with a huge, two-out, bases-loaded double -- to lead the Tuskers to an 11-5 win over visiting Clarkstown North.

Her double came in Somers’ game-breaking, five-run sixth and was off an 0-2 delivery from Rams reliever Sarah Brauer.

Somers, which started 0-4 start this season but now has two straight wins, never trailed.

It led 5-1 after three but Clarkstown North rallied for four in the fourth to tie it, the key hits being Gabby Camacho’s RBI single and Ashley Lew’s two-run, opposite-field homer to left.

Until that point, Tusker starter and winner Katie Gall had been in control -- her lone blemish a second-inning Mary Glisson homer.

After her fourth-inning hiccup, Gall survived a fifth-inning scare.

With the score tied at 5-5 in the fifth, Clarkstown had runners on second and third with one out before Gall struck out the next two hitters. She finished with seven strikeouts.

“Katie has great composure. She really takes the weight of the game,” Polansky said.

“I was moving the ball around a lot, seeing what was working and what was not. I threw my change more. The change is an awesome two-strike pitch,” Gall said.

Gall also contributed offensively, tripling off starter and loser Danielle Borelli in the first, which led to Hatley’s first RBI, doubling in a run in the third, singling in the fifth and walking in the all-important sixth.

Of Gall’s pitching and offense, Polansky said, “I’ll take it every day.”

Notes: As mentioned, the Tuskers got off to a poor start this year, largely by suffering one poor inning per game. But Somers now has a little momentum with the win against the Rams and a win earlier in the week vs. neighboring Mahopac. Hatley enjoyed yesterday's win, not just because of her clutch, all-star performance but because of its potential impact on her team. "I feel we needed this win. ... This boosted our spirits a little bit," she said. ... Among Hatley's RBI was one in the bottom of the fifth that put Somers up 6-5. ... Before the game-breaking bottom of the sixth, Polansky huddled her team and told it to "swing the bats" and to give itself a cushion going into the seventh. It did that but not before Sara Barbagallo was flat out robbed leading off the bottom of the sixth. She hit a sky-high shot to short center and Sam Weiss, who was playing deep, came charging in and made a highlight-reel, sliding catch. Somers' runs in that inning, in fact, all came with two outs. Not to be lost was catcher Kristine Elliott's liner to center, which drove in Kathleen Olifiers with the Tuskers' seventh run. With Elliott and Julia Sciacca, who had reached on a flair to right-center, aboard, Rams coach Dan Gartshore made the pitching change. Brauer pitched around the power-hitting Gall, failing to get her to chase, which then brought up the hero of the day, Hatley. Hatley subsequently scored Somers' last run on an Abbey Baulkwill hit to center. ... Gartshore said, "It's tough to come this far from home and lose." But he added he was proud of his team's effort. He noted both squads were victimized by the long ball. Among the absolute blasts were Glisson's home run and Gall's double and triple. ... Defensively, Somers survived two third-inning errors. One of the plays of the game belonged to Clarkstown North's Madison Borenkoff. With the game tied 5-5 in the forth, she ran down a two-out shot in the gap by Olifiers, stretching to grab it. Had it gotten by, Olifiers would have had a home run. ... Whether the sunny weather or the fact it's a holiday weekend, the game, played at Primrose Elementary School, whose campus adjoins Somers High's, drew a very healthy crowd that included many enthusiastic grandparents.

Best of the rest:

Danielle Sputo struck out the first 11 batters and 17 in all, pitching a no-hitter and walking none as host White Plains shut out Horace Greeley 13-0. Austin Bogart and Briana Chapman homered. White Plains committed one error, which is the only reason Sputo did not have a perfect game. But the senior, who despite a lot of interest, doesn't want to play college ball, had a brilliant couple of days. Thursday, she was on the mound as the Tigers shut out Clarkstown South 1-0… Casey Dell’Aera’s two-run, 12th-inning double lifted host Eastchester over North Rockland 6-5.  This game didn't lack for drama. North Rockland took a 3-2 11th-inning lead before the Eagles tied it in the bottom of the frame on a squeeze. North Rockland then scored twice in the top of the 12th before Dell'Aera and company rallied for the win. The international tie-breaker rule applied from the 10th inning on, meaning each team started its half of teh 10th, 11th and 12th with a runner on second and no one out. … Nicole Spielberg and Jill Lynch each had an RBI and Paulina Gutkin tossed a four-hitter as Tappan Zee edged visiting Yorktown 3-2. Losing pitcher Brianna Buck also gave up just four hits.