ICC SOFTBALL: SEASON IN REVIEW

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor

06-22-09 - This season wasn’t quite what was expected from the Riders, but a 17-3 finish in the Patroon Conference isn’t bad by anyone’s standards, including the defending league champions’. Despite the fact that Riders finished in a tie for second place in the league and went 21-5 overall, the season was considered by some at least a minor disappointment when the Riders could not bring home another Patroon Conference crown or a Class A title.

The Riders played in a number of fantastic games, perhaps none better than the three league losses, which came at the hands of Taconic Hills twice and Chatham once. The losses all came by the narrowest of margins, 2-0 at home against the Titans, 2-1 at Chatham and a thrilling 2-1, 12-inning war in Craryville against the Titans.

Their regular season was enough to earn ICC the third seed in the Section II Class A softball tournament, and after a first round bye, the Riders easily took care of business in the quarter finals with a convincing 10-0 victory over sixth-seeded Glens Falls. The victory advanced the Riders into the Class A Final Four.

Once in the semifinals, the Riders’ season came to a close when they fell 6-4 to second-seeded Lansingburgh. The Riders fell behind early before battling back to take the lead, but they could not hold on eventually falling by two runs.

For the season, only two players took the mound for the Riders. The scary thought for Patroon Conference opponents is that both were just freshmen. The left-handed Jessica Van Alphen pitched in 15 games this year for the Riders and threw 14 complete games, including the 12-inning affair with Taconic Hills. Van Alphen finished the season with a record of 12-3 with a minuscule ERA (earned run average) of 0.81. In 86 innings of work, Van Alphen surrendered just 42 hits and 32 bases on balls, while striking out 135. In her 15 games, Van Alphen allowed 19 runs, just 10 of them earned.

The other freshman arm was right-hander Erin Wadsworth who pitched in 9 games, going 7-1 with 7 complete games and an ERA of 0.60. In 58 innings of work, Wadsworth allowed 22 hits and 34 walks while striking out 80. Of the 15 runs let in while Wadsworth was on the mound, only 5 of those were earned.

At the plate the Riders were led by perhaps the league’s best senior and most assuredly the league’s top hitter in short stop Alli Pullen. Pullen hits an outstanding .533, with an unheard of .961 slugging percentage. Pullen racked up 41 hits this season including a team-leading 6 doubles, a team-leading 12 triples, and also one home run. Pullen also led the team in runs, 32, and RBIs, 21. She added 8 steals while not being caught a single time. Along with being a fantastic hitter, Pullen also held down short stop with a .980 fielding percentage and just one error the whole season.

The Riders will also lose three seniors in addition to Pullen: third baseman Elaine Hernandez, who hit .295 while driving in 13 runs and scoring 9; right fielder Courtney Hill who scored 13 runs and had 5 stolen bases; and lead-off hitter and center fielder Keira MacDonald, who hit .358 this year with 3 doubles, 2 triples, driving in 17 runs, and scoring 16 of her own.

Ichabod Crane is expected to return eight players from this year’s Class A final four team. Among those returning are seniors-to-be Becca Smith and Sarah Wheeler and juniors-to-be Jenna Smith and Christy Zander. The elder Smith is the team’s catcher and also a main offensive weapon, driving in 11 runs while scoring 23 of her own and stealing 10 bases. Wheeler is an excellent target at first and a clutch hitter who batted .313 this year. The younger Smith hit .353, and Zander hit .386 while playing left field. Wadsworth was no slouch at the plate either, hitting .333. Lindsey Drumm-Girardi showed her worth as a hitter in sectionals. For the season, she hit .306, with a team-leading two home runs.

With both pitchers returning, an experienced catcher, their entire right side of the infield, and a talented left fielder in Zander, the Riders hopes must ben high for next season, when they should be able to make a run back up to the top of the league and toward a sectional crown.