By Simon Chen
During the first week of the PSAL softball season, runs were not a premium, at least for the Madison Lady Knights as they combined to score 68 runs in their first three games of the season. The biggest whitewash was when they defeated Bushwick Campus on March 27 in a 36-0 blowout as the contest was called after five innings because of the PSAL’s mercy mandate. Coach Bill Dumont’s squad sits tied in a three-way share for first place with Lincoln (2-0) and Midwood (1-0) at the end of the first week of action on the field. Thursday, March 27 In last season’s two regular season meetings, New Utrecht got the best of Lincoln by sweeping the series. But this season, it was much different as the lady Railsplitters derailed the Utes 12-6 behind a five-run fourth inning. Leading the Railsplitters was pitcher Katharine Fuentes (2-0); the ace hurler went the distance by tossing seven innings, surrendering six runs, with only two of them earned, on two hits while fanning nine. Fuentes has been extremely solid in her first two outings of the season by striking out a combined 16 hitters. On offense, second baseman Jenny Liang knocked in a team-leading two R.B.I. while a speedy center fielder Cynthia Palermo stole the show by swiping six bases. But third baseman Kristina Bermudez was right behind Palermo with five swiped bases. After a close 9-8 win over Fort Hamilton, on March 24, the Railsplitters improve to a perfect 2-0 and are currently tied with Midwood (1-0) and Madison (3-0) for first place in the division. As for the Utes, an opening day 26-3 win over Grand Street Campus was very impressive as the offensive onslaught had every starter plating at least one run. But in this contest, only three starters lit up the scoreboard. Leading the Utes was first baseman Danielle Amorello with two R.B.I. and two hits, along with center fielder Angela Cipriano and left fielder Yvonne Lam each adding a R.B.I. The Utes are 1-1 on the season. Scoring eight runs in three of the first five innings, the umpires had already seen more than enough as the Knights earned a 36-0 victory over Bushwick Campus in a five-inning mercy contest. Leading Madison was first baseman Nikki Panaro, the slugger had four hits, which included her first dinger of the season, and team-high seven runs knocked in. Right behind Panaro was third baseman Maria Mantagas, who had a game-high two homeruns and batted in five runs, in the lopsided win. While, on the mound, was pitcher Kayla Hill (1-0). The second Madison starter allowed nothing but just two hits while freezing nine in a short day of just five innings. Midwood Vs. Grand Street Campus (PPD)- The March 27 game was supposed to be Midwood’s second of the season and Grand Street Campus’ third, but the game was called off and will be rescheduled to a later date in the season. Despite the postponed contest, the lady Wolves conclude the week with a 0-2 record. Grand Street Campus dropped back-to-back contests with a 26-3 loss to New Utrecht and a 17-0 shutout at the hands of Madison. As for the lady Hornets, with one game schedule prior to this meeting, they shutdown Bushwick Campus, 15-4 on March 24. Friday, March 28 After losing an absolute heartbreaking 9-8 game to Lincoln on March 24, the lady Tigers came right back to claw past Canarsie in a 26-4 five inning blowout. Despite allowing all 26 runs, only 10 of them earned, lady Chiefs’ starter Ashley Elam stayed in the game for the full five innings of the game. Fort Hamilton evens up their record at 1-1 while the Lady Chiefs also mirror that same record at one win and one loss. The unstoppable Madison Knights had already won two straight in a shutout fashion but can they win a third straight shutout? No problem. The lady Knights crowned the lady Wolves in a 17-0 five inning shutout. Led by their ace hurler Marie Oneto (2-0), who tossed five innings of shutout ball and just surrendered only one hit while striking out 10 hitters. After three appearances, this season, Oneto owns a perfect 2-0 record with zero earn-runs average and has fanned a division-leading 19 batters. On offense, the Knights continued their dominance with a four-R.B.I. performance from RF Jennifer Gabay and two more R.B.I. each from first baseman Nikki Panaro and third baseman Maria Mantagas. With three consecutive victories, the Knights sit in the division with a 3-0 record while Grand Street Campus falls to 0-2 on the season.
