Black River wins 3rd straight
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Black River pitcher Amanda Chambers (17) springs from the mound to begin the celebration with catcher Tina Valente after striking out the final Rochester batter in Tuesday’s 8-2 victory in the Division IV state championship softball game in Poultney. It was the third consecutive state crown for the Presidents. ALBERT J. MARRO / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By Chuck Clarino Staff WRITER - Published: June 17, 2009
POULTNEY – Maybe it was destiny fulfilled for the Black River softball team.
Top-seeded Black River won its third consecutive Division IV state championship by defeating the No. 3 Rochester Rockets 8-2 Tuesday at Legion Field.
Ironically, it was the same winning pitcher Amanda Chambers and the same opponent, the Rochester Rockets and, to make it even more curious, Black River won by the exact score it did in 2008.
To say that Black River has been a dominant team is a major understatement.
Over the three-straight championship seasons, Black River has posted a 49-6 record that included a 40-game unbeaten string that was stopped this spring. Black River's last loss to a Division IV team came on May 4, 2007 when it fell to Arlington 14-1.
And guess what? Black River has only three senior starters and returns the bulk of the team as underclassmen, with a big crop of youth softball players in the pipeline.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves.
On this beautiful late spring afternoon, the Presidents scored early and often and then rode the strong pitching of Chambers, while relying on a solid defense to get the job done.
The Presidents scored all the runs they needed – three – in the first inning. All came off starter Meghan Pratt and all three were unearned, thanks to a one-out error that gave the Presidents life. RBI singles by Courtney Rohrig and Hannah Josselyn got two runs in and the third run scored on a Pratt wild pitch.
Black River gave Chambers a comfy cushion and put the pressure squarely on the Rockets by coming up with four more runs in the second. The Presidential uprising knocked Pratt out of the box and forced Rocket coach Brandi Sargent to bring on sophomore Bennett McPhetres.
The Presidents rallied by using two hits, two walks a sacrifice fly and an infield out to plate the insurance runs. The key blow in the frame was a two-run triple by Zoe Trimboli, while one run came home on Katie O'Neil's sac-fly and another run scored on Ashley Billings' groundout.
"What we like to say is pitch it, defend it and scratch it across the plate," said Black River coach Luigi Valente, who has piloted the Presidents during this championship run. "We were able to score early on offense and then put it on lock-down.
"Kudos to Amanda (Chambers) for throwing strikes and keeping them off balance and kudos to our defense for taking away their bunt-and-run game."
Some pitchers are lucky enough to win one championship game but Chambers has now recorded three successive title victories and as only a junior will have a chance to go for No. 4.
On this day, Chambers was very tough to hit, especially in the early innings.
She retired the first six batters she faced before Danielle Mishkit led the third with a single up the middle. Chambers didn't allow another hit until the sixth when the Rockets strung three together to score two runs on Meghan Pratt's two-run double to the left center gap.
But Chambers toughened up, and didn't allow a hit in the seventh, finishing with a flourish by posting two of her seven strikeouts in the seventh inning.
"It's all a team effort and I have great girls behind me and we all love to play the game so it's everyone's effort," said Chambers, a right-hander. "This is definitely the icing on the cake. We've been working very hard for this and this is what we wanted."
One of the keys to winning was Chambers' ability to shut down the Rochester bunt game. Chambers and her defensive mates were able to neutralize the Rockets' speed. Black River's corner infielders Kit Kat Thompson and Ashley Billings and Chambers made great plays on bunts and Thompson snared a hot liner to save extra bases.
"We were not hitting today," Sargent said. "We like to play our short game but that was not happening today."
One sliver of blue sky for the Rockets, who finished up 13-4, was the relief job turned in by sophomore McPhetres.
The tall right-hander, who has been working with pitching coach Bill Onley, came in with one out in the second and retired the next two batters she faced to get out of trouble. All told, McPhetres yielded only one hit, walked four and struck out three. She allowed an unearned run in the fifth when Josselyn tripled and came home on an illegal pitch.
But this was Black River's day. The Presidents, who finished 17-2, were spirited and gracious as they celebrated and stowed away their third straight crown, while the big crowd of their supporters cheered mightily.
"Hey, this has nothing to do with me, it's all about the girls," said Valente. "It's a tribute to their work ethic and their determination. But these girls love to play the game; they have a passion for the game that you can't teach.
"Still, I have to tip my cap to Rochester, they've played us here for two years now and who knows, maybe we'll do it again next year."
chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com
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