43
Wild, Wild West
Poland’s 11-12 softball team goes two-for-two with wins over Puerto Rico and Texas
By kevin Hudson
Portland, Ore.
The Poland 11-12 softball team followed up on its 5-4 opening Little League World Series win over Texas on Thursday with a 7-4 win over Puerto Rico on Friday at Alpenrose Field.
Poland sits atop Pool A after two days of competition in the 2010 Little League Softball World Series and will enjoy a day off today before resuming play on Sunday against West representative Burbank Little League of Burbank, Calif.
The top two teams in Pool A will advance to Tuesday’s single-elimination semifinals that will be televised by ESPN2.
Poland led 7-2 going into the sixth inning before Maunabo, Puerto Rico, the Latin America Region champion, scored twice and put two more runners on base.
“Latin America was a good team and they can really hit,” Poland manager Chuck Muslak said.
“We very easily could have lost that game.”
In the first inning, Poland’s Abby Masluk singled to right field then stole second and third. Starting pitcher Claire Testa walked and drew a throw from Puerto Rico catcher Jennifer Morales while stealing second, allowing Masluk to steal home for the game’s first run.
Jenna Schettler singled over the head of Puerto Rico first baseman Jessica Rodriguez into shallow right field to lead off the second inning. She then stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball.
A walk and an error loaded the bases with no one out, but Puerto Rico pitcher Ninoshka Ortiz earned a strikeout and an infield fly before a passed ball scored Schettler for a 2-0 Poland lead.
Puerto Rico bounced back in the top of the third when Ortiz reached on a dropped third strike, then stole second.
Pinch runner Gabriela Guzman advanced to third on a bunt single by third baseman Luz Feliciano. A bunt single by pinch hitter Nashally Rivera loaded the bases with no outs.
A stiff line drive from Nelvaliz Ortiz glanced off the face mask of third baseman Arlia Duarte, was deftly collected by shortstop Kat Wilson and fired home to save a run, but a Jennifer Morales RBI single and an error netted two runs for Puerto Rico to even the score.
Testa led off the home half of the third with a walk and second baseman Ally Deemer singled to center for two on with one out.
A passed ball advanced the runners to second and third with two outs when Duarte ripped a ground ball through shortstop, scoring two runs.
Dani Rutana then dropped a soft liner into shallow center field to score Duarte for a 5-2 advantage.
Back-to-back singles by pinch hitters Cara Kalouris and Kristyn Svetlak scored Rutana for a four-run lead and a throw to second by Morales on a steal by Svetlak allowed Kalouris to steal home, pushing the lead to five.
From there Testa steadied, allowing no more runs until the sixth inning when Guzman reached on a dropped third strike and Lixaned Garcia singled. Ashley Brito then tripled to deep right field, scoring them both.
Testa again steadied herself, earning a strikeout and a fly ball to end the game. She surrendered eight hits and one walk while striking out six in her complete-game victory.
“Claire has been there for us the whole year as one of our top pitchers,” Masluk said. “She went out there and gutted it out, did what we needed her to do.”
Poland 5, Texas 4
Poland jumped out to an early five-run lead in its opening game, then held on behind relief pitcher Deemer.
“That was huge for us,” Chuck Masluk said. “To get out in front with a win over a tough Texas team puts us in a great position going into Sunday’s game against the West.”