DiSALVO FANS 8; BOGART 3-3, ROOF 2 RBI; DeMARCO HR
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School junior pitcher Olivia DiSalvo had work cut out for her when she faced a formidable Cranford Cougar lineup in Scotch Plains on April 26. She did her job well by recording eight strikeouts, while her teammates proved that they could produce needed offense in a 6-4 Raider victory.
It was the fourth win in a row for the 9-3 Raiders, who had previously defeated the New Providence Pioneers, 10-5, the Jonathan Dayton Bulldogs, 5-2, and the Union Farmers, 10-0. The 6-7 Cougars had just beaten the Westfield Blue Devils, 6-4, the day before.
DiSalvo retired the first six Cougars she faced until Ellie Queenan tapped a squibbler halfway down the third base line and reached first safely in the third inning. After Grace Ingraham’s sacrifice bunt, Sarah Hartmann (2-for-3, RBI, run) bounced an RBI single into right field to put the Cougars ahead 1-0.
In the meantime, Cougar starting pitcher Brooke Bentrewicz yielded a single to Angelina Valente (2-for-3, double, RBI, run) in the first inning then allowed a ground single to Maddie Bogart (3-for-3, double, RBI) and a looping single to Sarina Llano (2-for-3) in the second inning but denied any Raider runs. Bentrewicz then retired all three Raiders she faced in the bottom of the third inning.
The Cougars posed a threat in the fourth inning. Ciara Conley slapped a leadoff single to right field. After a strikeout, Kasey Coon drew a walk but DiSalvo struck out Sophia Alvarez-Gomez and got Queenan to ground out to shortstop Emily Roof. The Raiders decided to create a little concern for the Cougars in their half of the fourth inning. Siarah Llano (2for-3, RBI) hacked a leadoff single over second base and Bogart followed with a ground single down the third base line. Harper Shimko’s twostrike bunt attempt failed and Sarina Llano grounded into a force out at second. With runners on first and third, third baseman Maddy DeLong scooped Julia Friedrich’s grounder and fired to first for the third out.
Cougar slugger Sophia DeMarco (2-for-4, 2 RBI) blasted her 10th home run of the season to put the Cougars in front 2-0 entering the bottom of the fifth inning but the Raiders would answer loudly with four runs to grab the lead. It began when Samantha Friscia’s (double, walk, 2 runs) slow grounder to first was mishandled. Valente drilled a ground rule double under the centerfield fence to put both runners in scoring position. Roof followed with a two-run single down the right field line. DiSalvo drew a free pass and was replaced by her courtesy runner Sam Marcolina. Sairah Llano lashed an RBI single to right-centerfield and Bogart brought in the fourth run with a long double to center. Lillianna Pardo came in to relieve Bentrewicz. Cougar right fielder Ingraham prevented further damage when she corralled Sarina Llana’s liner and fired home in time to nail Bogart, who tagged up and attempted to score, for a double play.
Coon scored for the Cougars in the sixth but the Raiders answered twice to up their lead to 6-3. Friscia doubled, Friedrichs walked and both scored when Valente and DiSalvo added RBI singles. The Cougars added their last run on DeMarco’s RBI single that brought home Hartmann.
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