PSAL------
Private----
Misc-------
Revitalized Riverdale softball team emerging as Ivy contender after 12-0 pounding of shorthanded Fieldston
By Jason Eisenberg
April 25, 2011 -- If the Poly Prep softball team is finally to be knocked off its perch after a five-year stay atop the Ivy League, the likely candidates to steal the title were assumed to be Horace Mann followed closely by Fieldston. However, somebody apparently forgot to tell a third local team about this perceived pecking order in the standings.
After two straight mediocre seasons in which they did not play a factor in the Ivy League race and failed to qualify for the state tournament, the Riverdale Lady Falcons have suddenly and unexpectedly experienced a renaissance in 2011 under the leadership of first-year head coach John Crosby.
While it is certainly still early in the season, Riverdale is currently off to a perfect 4-0 start, with all of the victories coming against Ivy opponents. In comparison, the Lady Falcons won just 5 of their 12 total league games last year. The local squad’s most impressive showing to date came last Wednesday, when they defeated hilltop rival Fieldston by a staggering count of 12-0. If the previous three performances did not already do so, this result clearly proved to the rest of the league that Riverdale can no longer be underestimated.
“I don’t know if I would call it a statement at this point yet, because we are just focusing on one game at a time. But, without question, we had a really good day and this was the kind of win that the team can build on,” said Coach Crosby. “I had been running the JV for the past few years and seen these girls go through the system, so although it might come as a surprise to some people, I knew there were good quality players here. We expected to be very competitive this season, but this is still a young group, and each strong performance will only make them more and more confident.”
Offense was initially hard to come-by for both teams during the early stages of the contest -- their first of two meetings this season. Fieldston’s senior starting pitcher Lee Bernstein actually held Riverdale without a run or so much as a hit through the first three frames. The only time she even got in to any trouble was after walking the first two batters in the second inning, but junior shortstop Kate Miller singlehandedly turned a beautiful double-play to end the threat.
Meanwhile, Riverdale starter Nicole Cornet matched her counterpart by pitching two nearly-flawless innings, with the only blemish on the junior’s line being a lead-off bunt single in the first by Fieldston freshman second baseman Carolyn Susman. Then, Cornet was accidentally hit in the leg by a ball while warming-up before the bottom of the third and unfortunately had to be removed from the game. Luckily for the Lady Falcons, the team did not miss a beat with eighth-grader Madison Kahn on the mound.
The talented middle-schooler, who Coach Crosby already expects to start once every three games for the varsity, was simply sensational and completely shutdown the Fieldston offense for the rest of the afternoon. Kahn threw four scoreless frames and allowed just a single hit, while striking out six batters. This performance was impressive in itself, but even more so when considering she was consistently overpowering many girls that were two or three years older than her. The only hit the Lady Eagles would get against Kahn was a single to centerfield off the bat of Zoe Dubno in the sixth, but the Fieldston sophomore would be thrown out while trying to extend it in to a double.
In fairness to Fieldston, the Lady Eagles were without two of their top five offensive players, as senior Megan Bautista and junior Maggie Zier were unavailable for the day. Yet, as it turned out, Fieldston might have missed the two veterans in the field even more than they did in the batter’s box. Bautista is the team’s starting catcher and Zier -- who normally plays in the outfield -- is the back-up catcher, so the Lady Eagles were forced to put untested freshman Vicky De Jesus behind the plate.
The rookie performed admirably for the first three innings, but in the fourth, she started to have problems controlling Bernstein’s pitches. As a result, three of the first four Riverdale batters in the frame reached base safely on a passed ball despite striking out. This allowed the Lady Falcons to put three runs on the board while only getting one hit -- an infield single by Kahn -- in the inning. Riverdale continued to take advantage of more defensive mistakes in the next frame, including a routine fly ball dropped in the outfield and another infield single, which led to three more runs on a sacrifice fly by Sara Ben-Ezra and an RBI single by Rebecca Goodman.
After walking the first two Riverdale batters in the sixth, Bernstein would be replaced by Emily Kling, but it made little difference. Kling walked four additional hitters, Goodman singled to drive in a run for the third straight inning and Harlie Silver smoked an RBI single to the outfield to cap off a six-run frame that gave the Lady Falcons a double-digit lead.
Fieldston’s league record dropped to a disappointing 2-3 and this was the Lady Eagles’ second poor performance of the season, sandwiched around three strong efforts that included a pair of lopsided wins over Dalton and Trinity, as well as a hard-fought one-run loss on the road at Poly.
“I had a feeling it might be a tough day because Riverdale is improved and has been playing well, but also not having Maggie and Megan makes a huge difference for us. When you are missing two key assets from the lineup -- both hitting-wise and in the field -- it is tough to replace,” said Fieldston head coach Stefanie Gozdziewski. “While the previous three games might have been good, this shows we still have a lot of growing to do and I don’t want them to forget what happened today. Right now, our younger girls are taking baby steps and I want them to be taking full strides.”
As for Riverdale, with this win, the Lady Falcons still stand alongside Poly and Horace Mann as the only undefeated teams left in the league. However, this three-way tie will not last for long, because Riverdale is scheduled to face both squads over the next few days. The Lady Falcons have already exceeded expectations but these two upcoming contests will provide a chance for them to really see how they stack up against two of the premiere softball programs in all of New York City. By the end of the week, one of these early frontrunners will likely begin to separate from the rest of the pack, and it could very well be the dark horse Lady Falcons that come out on top.
“As a team, we set specific goals at the beginning of the season. Our realistic goal was to have a winning record, our reach goal was to win the Ivies or at least place near the top of the league, and our lofty goal is make a run at states,” said Coach Crosby. “We are really lucky to have two outstanding pitchers, we are strong defensively and now that it is getting warmer, we can take advantage of our speed on the bases more often. If we can balance all of that out with enough offense, I do not believe anything is out of reach for our team.”
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Madison Kahn, Riverdale - The young pitcher was superb after having to unexpectedly relieve injured starter Nicole Cornet at the start of the third frame. Kahn threw four scoreless innings and allowed just a single hit while striking out six Fieldston batters. She also contributed at the plate, with a single, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored in the game.
Honorable Mention: Rebecca Goodman, Riverdale - The senior second baseman was Riverdale’s offensive leader in the contest and finished with a team-high two hits and three RBIs, as well as a walk and one run scored.
