On a beautiful Saturday morning, the kids and dads of the Downtown Little League got to watch the moms play for a change, in the second annual Mothers’ Softball Classic. Here is a recap of the action, which began at 8 a.m. on the Battery Park fields. Downtown Little League players are in parentheses following their mom’s name.
Aniko DeLaney (Lucinda and Sophie DeLaney) of the visiting Battery Bombers flied out to Pamela Keefer (Brandon Mirabella) at second base to lead off the game. Diane Rohan (Tyler) singled to left field. Liz Sadowsky (Walter and Ezra) also flied out to second, and Keefer quickly threw the ball to first in an attempt to double up the Bombers. Rohan, however, after watching umpteen little league games these past seven years, hadn’t moved, and actually had to catch the ball bare-handed to avoid injury. Mary Beth Wallis (Ethan, plate umpire, and Ava) cranked a single as well, advancing Rohan to second. Liz Conley’s (Aidan and Gabe) RBI single allowed Rohan to score and advanced Wallis to second, where she was stranded when Jean Chen-Villalba (Ava and Maia Villalba) flied out to Ruth Habbouch (Jacob) at third base.
In the bottom of the first inning, Lisa Greenleaf (Jack and Georgia) singled. Keefer reached first on a fielder’s choice, when Conley whipped the ball to DeLaney at second for the first out. Claudia Bogdanos (Michael and Jason) also reached first when Keefer was forced out at second. Lauren Guberer (Jacob) doubled past the mud in centerfield, driving in Bogdanos, and the Bad A’s tied the game at 1-1.
In the top of the second, Valerie Carmet (Amber and Quentin Thiery) singled, but continued to run and was thrown out at second. Claudia Scala singled, but was stranded there when the Bad A’s made two put-outs at first base. In the bottom of the inning, Pilar Araujo (C.J.) singled, as did Rita Leong (Nicky and Timmy) and Marijo Russell-O’Grady (James, plate umpire), loading the bases. Samantha Singh (Sumit, who served as official third base umpire) flied out to Rohan behind home plate for the first out. Andrea Shiah (Ava and Morgan O’Mara), dressed in pearls for the occasion, was credited with a RBI when she grounded to Sadowsky at first for the second out, allowing Araujo to score. Greenleaf singled and drove two runs in, and the inning ended when Conley grabbed a pop fly for the final out.
Now down 4-1, the Bombers fought back in the third. DeLaney led off with a single, and advanced to second when Singh caught Rohan’s fly ball to right field for the first out. Sadowsky blasted the ball to deep center for an inside-the-park home run, and Wallis followed suit with a solo home run to tie the game at 4-4. The next batter grounded out to Russell-O’Grady on the mound, and Guberer caught a fly ball to shortstop for the third out.
In the bottom of the inning, the Bad A’s struck back, starting with back-to-back singles by Bogdanos and Guberer. Sadowsky caught a liner to first for the first out, but Araujo singled again, loading the bases. Leong singled, driving in a run, and Russell-O’Grady singled, driving in two. Two fly-outs ended the scoring, leaving Bad A’s with a 7-4 lead.
In the fourth inning, Carmet singled again, but was stranded there when Russell (the day’s organizer) caught a fly ball to the mound. Next, Greenleaf caught a fly to first, and Maquita Moody (Douglass Stapler) struck out for the final out of the inning.
For the A’s, Teresa Sorkin hit a groundball, but the Liz-to-Liz combination (Conley at shortstop, Sadowsky at first base) connected for the first out. Sadowsky caught the next ball in the air. Keefer blasted the ball to deep left field for the day’s only triple, but was stranded there when Sadowsky caught another fly ball for the third out, giving the A’s their first scoreless inning.
In the top of the fifth, Kim Bryant (Miles Greenblatt) grounded to Guberer at shortstop for the first out. DeLaney singled, and Rohan reached first on a fielder’s choice, when her grounder to shortstop was thrown to second base for the out. Keefer, now on the mound for the A’s, caught the next fly ball for the second out, and although Wallis singled, Guberer was a force to be reckoned with at shortstop, forcing out Rohan at third for the final out.
In the bottom of the fifth, the A’s added another run with an RBI single by Russell-O’Grady, scoring Leong and increasing the lead to 8-4.
For their last licks, the Bombers led off with singles by Chen-Villalba and Carmet. Scala reached first on a fielder’s choice when her grounder to the mound forced out Chen-Villalba at third base. Karen Barwick (Liam and Felix) drove in a run with a hard-hit single, and Bryan’s single also drove in a run. Bryan advanced to third on a throwing error. DeLaney’s RBI single was followed by another one from Rohan, which tied the game at 8. Sadowsky then flied out to Araujo to end the inning.
Next was a three-up, three-down inning for the A’s, starting with a Liz-to-Liz groundout, followed by a strikeout by Barwick (who pitched the entire game for the Bombers) and a fly-out to DeLaney at second base. The ladies celebrated their hard-fought tie with an orange juice break, and then returned to the fields for game two.
Several moms had to attend their children’s games, and others joined the group for game two, but with only eight on each team, Chris Rohan offered to catch for both teams. The Bombers won the coin toss and took the field. Keefer got things started with a single, and scored on another single by Araujo. Araujo was caught in her attempt to steal second.
In the bottom of the first, Rohan hit a line drive to deep left field. Heeding the advice of first base coach Wallis, Rohan rounded towards third base, but hesitated between second and third and was caught in a rundown for the first out. Diana Biagoli (Mateo and Dario Flores) singled, and then stole second and third. Next, Barwick drew the day’s first walk. Villalba’s single scored Biagoli, who went in sliding at home plate.
The Bad A’s went scoreless in the second inning. Russell-O’Grady singled, and Kerry Farrell (Mairead) flied out to Barwick at first. Singh reached first when Russell-O’Grady was forced out at second. Bryan’s grounder forced out Singh at second, and in an odd double play, Bryan was then thrown out at first base when she stayed at home plate after making contact. In the bottom of the third, Carmet singled, as did Wendy Chapman (Kendal, Taylor and Dean). Rohan’s two-RBI double brought the score to 6, and Biagoli’s RBI single made the score 7-1.
In the top of the fourth, Biagoli struck out the first two batters, and a fly-out to third base ended the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Barwick singled and went to second on a throwing error. She stole third during Villalba’s at-bat, and then scored when Villalba grounded out. Laura Morrison (Zoe and Jamie) singled and stole second, but was stranded there when Keefer caught a pop fly and then successfully fielded a groundball.
Down 8-1, the A’s tried to rally with a single by Araujo, but the Bombers were able to get three outs without her scoring. The Moms celebrated the chance to play competitively, have a few laughs and add another fun t-shirt to their wardrobe!
Next up — volleyball!
