Club Softball battles against U of R in first game series of the semester
Geneseo’s Club Softball game team took the field for the first time this semester against the University of Rochester on Saturday Sept. 24. The team competed in a hard-fought triple header, ready to reclaim a win after two losses to the U of R Stingers in the cold Apr. weather last semester. With an expanded e-board and a brand-new game team compiled including strong returners and promising new players, the team put a newfound pressure on the Stingers, and ended the day winning one of the three total games played.
Though Geneseo did not win the first game, it was an intense matchup, with Geneseo staying on the heels of U of R until the bottom of the fourth inning. Freshman second-baseman Hailey Watches scored the first run of the year, officially putting the team on the board in the first inning with an accompanying runs batted in (RBIs) recorded for freshman center-fielder Lexi Brennan. After the Stingers had scored three runs in the bottom of first inning, Geneseo held them back with sophomore Natalie Mandrycky leading the team with an impressive pitching performance. The second run was scored by senior outfielder Abby Minnekine in the top of the fourth inning, brought home by a powerful double from freshman catcher Leah Kowalczyk. Unfortunately, Geneseo was met with an impressive offense at the bottom of the fourth, and the final score of the first game was 2-8.
Fueled by this loss, Geneseo came back with an undoubted ferocity for game two. Junior pitcher Mya Enderle fired the ball with impressive speed and accuracy, keeping U of R in a neck-and-neck battle with Geneseo for the entire game as our own players put the ball in play and made smart moves around the bases to score runs. The score by the bottom of the sixth inning was still 3-5, but Geneseo rallied to score five more runs in the last inning. Scorers for Geneseo included Mandrycky, Kowalczyk, Enderle, junior first-baseman Sarah Mertson, and sophomore outfielder Abby Miller.
Geneseo ended up with a tough loss in the third game, but there was still a lot to celebrate by the end of the day. The win of game two, which was the first win for Geneseo’s game team since last fall, brings an incredible wave of excitement to the team for the year to come. After the hard work the team put in throughout all last year, with the members keeping their heads up even in the face of disappointing losses and conditional setbacks, this win felt like the beginning of a new era for the team—one of hope and promise. The cohesion between the new players and the returners has been solidified throughout the practice season thus far, and the ongoing positive attitudes of all members on the team has been instrumental leading to this victory.
The Geneseo game team has the next few weekends off, and will work on refining their skills at practices before their next game series. The team will play three games on Sunday Oct. 16 at the Geneseo High School softball field against St. Bonaventure University.