Tigers Softball has a Bumpy Road Journey to Start the Season
The White Plains Softball Team is in the midst of a grueling road journey that consists of seven away games in their initial nine games scheduled to start the 2015 season. Furthermore, noting that the White Plains Home Opener against Clarkstown South scheduled for April 8, was rained out; the Tigers remain on the road for their initial five games this season with only one home game in eight games.
The Lady Tigers road tour to kickoff their 2015 campaign has been anything but a smooth ride. The Tigers were shutout by Suffern High School, 5-0, to begin the season, after a tough winter kept them practicing indoors. The Lady Tigers did not take the field until they played one and a half innings of a scrimmage, at Yorktown High School, in the snow, on March 31.
With their Home Opener cancelled the Tigers then traveled to Binghamton, New York, for a weekend of scrimmages, whereas Head Coach Ted O’Donnell stressed,” This was good for us.”
The Tigers traveled back to Westchester County to challenge Mt. Vernon High School, in Mt. Vernon, on Monday, April 14. The Tigers offense was impressive against the Knights. They scored 24 runs, while their young sophomore pitcher Emily Tumminia pitched her first shutout of her varsity career, as the Tigers overwhelmed the Knights, 24-0, for their first victory of the season.
The Tigers momentum was still surging when they played their second game on the road in as many days. The Tigers shocked Mamaroneck High School, 10-8, in a spirited game. Nonetheless, in contrast, when playing their third road game in four days, the Tigers were trounced by rival The Ursuline School, 17-1. The game ended on a Mercy Rule decision in the sixth inning.
Koalas junior slugger Angie Rizzi hit a Grand Slam to make the score 17-1, to prompt the enforcement of the Mercy Rule in the sixth inning. Rizzi had eight RBI in the game. Rizzi also had two homeruns including a two-run walk-off homerun in a 7-6 win over North Rockland High School, on April 6. “Angie is just one of the special players. I knew it right away when as I saw her as a freshman,” commented Ursuline Head Coach John Pirone.
Regardless of the score, Pirone, who has been the Koalas Head Coach for a decade, is quite aware of the intense rivalry between White Plains and Ursuline. Therefore, he is expecting a much different game when his Koalas visit the Tigers, on Tuesday, May 5. “It just so happens that we faced this kind of pitching three times in a row, so our timing was good. They (Tigers) just caught us at a bad time for them,” said Pirone.
“Absolutely, (I expect a different game). I have been doing this for 10 years, whatever it is with Ted, he is a very adept coach; he will get his team ready. Ted is like a mentor to me; he is the ‘Old Man’ and everybody likes to beat the “Old Man,’” complimented Pirone, smiling as he raked the field, after the game.
The Ursuline game was undoubtedly a tough assignment for young sophomore pitcher Tumminia. She was pitching in her first contest against arch rival Ursuline and on their home turf, with only three regular season varsity games of experience.
However, Tumminia showed her resiliency even at this young age by coming back against Nyack High School on the road two days later. She retired the final 18 of 19 batters, including 14 Indians in a row. However, the Indians got three hits off Tumminia earlier in the game and scored, as the Tigers lost another tough road game, 3-2.
O’Donnell is quite aware that his Tigers are struggling at the plate as of late. The Tigers offense erased a great performance by Tumminia, by not giving her enough run support in a game they desperately needed to win to get back on the winning track.
“We need to put more runs on the board and we have the lineup to do that,” said O’Donnell. “I have to get my players to believe in themselves the way that I believe in them,” he continued.
O’Donnell has a young team this season, with only four seniors, including starting shortstop, Megan McMahon and her twin sister Jessica, with centerfielder Sarah Carrier and third baseman Emily O’ Brien.
Juniors and sophomores are playing intricate positions on the field for the Tigers this season. Besides, sophomore pitcher Tumminia, her battery mate is junior Kayla Bonnet, first-base is guarded by sophomore slugger Juliet Lodes, junior Dana Jensen is covering leftfield, junior Gabi Critelli is playing rightfield, while at second base is junior Samantha Mendez and a freshman, Lauren Medico, was batting clean-up against Ursuline, as the designated player.
“Every single one of my players put in countless hours in the off-season working on their skills. It comes down to trusting their training and hard work and having confidence in themselves, as well as in each other,” O’Donnell concluded.
