Eldred 14

Monticello 2

ELDRED- “Once in a blue moon, there comes somebody like you.”

Those lyrics sung by Edie Brickell were penned to laud the rarity of someone truly special. That comes to mind when thinking about the undefeated Eldred Lady Yellowjackets, who are the No. 1 ranked Class D softball team in the state.

With a commanding 14-2 win over Monticello on Tuesday that ended an inning early due to the 12-run rule, Eldred improved to 10-0 powered by the battery that never wears out, namely junior elite hurler Dana Donnelly and her deft catcher and slugger Lily Gonzalez.

Up and down the lineup and at every position on the field, the central battery is constantly amped up by young women who play the game the way it's meant to be played.

Fielding short hops like the one Lenae Kelty charged before throwing a runner out with a laser beam strike to first baseman Emila Faber or diving to catch a ball just before it hit the ground like right fielder Mackenzie Simonsen, Eldred backs up Donnelly's electrifying pitching which she hones and nurtures during the year with her team out of Pro Prospects ably coached by Steve Pinto.

On the basepaths, Eldred creates a nightmare for opposing teams with heads up running, stealing and scoring on passed balls. And they can hit. Coach Rick Whitney and his able assistants Mike Donnelly and Alaina Gaughan have done an outstanding job of teaching the girls not only to play the game with skill and intensity, but to marshal a love for the enterprise and a sense of family. The result: a juggernaut.

That there is no state tournament this year, now that Deposit's phenomenal pitcher Mackenzie Stiles has finally graduated is most unfortunate, for this could well have been Eldred's year to get by the Lady Lumberjacks and on to a state title. But with most of the team returning next year, the window is still open for that aspiration and you can bet the ranch that this season will be a great forerunner to that quest.

Donnelly was a bit off with her two-seam fast ball that was rising out of the strike zone more often than she would have wished. But Monticello only scored two runs in the second inning to close within one run of Eldred that had put up three in the bottom of the first.

Every other Monti inning was a goose egg. Donnelly notched eight strike outs and yielded just three hits. Two runs could hardly ever be enough to beat Eldred which sent up crooked numbers in three of its five innings at the plate.

Facing Eldred means first dealing with leadoff lefty hitting sophomore Bryn Greenfield who began the game with a ripped double to left, stole second and third and scored on an error. Lily Gonzalez had an RBI double after Donnelly singled. She too scored on a passed ball to give Eldred a 3-0 lead before Monticello could swing at a single pitch.

Donnelly gave up a rare walk to senior Hailey Taggart who moved to third on sophomore Melanie Merton's double. A two-out single by Shealey Hughes plated the only two runs put up by Monticello.

Eldred widened the lead with four in the second inning that included a humungous home run by Gonzalez that sailed over the fence in left field. “It was right down the middle of the plate, just where I like it, said the affable slugger.

Donnelly and Kelty had already notched RBI's in the inning. Eldred would add a run in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth to get a 12-run lead. Donnelly got a 1-2-3 sixth inning in and that was it.

The last time the two teams played Eldred won 16-4. It turned out that the mound at Monticello was three feet too far from the plate by regulations since little leaguers play on it. Thus Donnelly's pitches were falling short. It wasn't until later after Eldred played there that the glitch was fixed. Still, the Monties and their coach Emily Woudenberg felt that this time around they could top Eldred.

It turns out that such a wish that never came to pass was shared by all of Eldred's opponents this season. Monticello fell to 2-10. They had wins against Liberty and Livingston Manor. With just two games remaining this season, Eldred will try to keep its perfect record intact.

Donnelly is all ready to pitch for Pro Prospects in a U-16 tournament this weekend so her preparation for next year's run for the gold will be underway throughout the summer. She plays soccer in the fall but winter is all about preparing.

Count on this: The Eldred juggernaut has got the juice for a jubilant next June and judging from who's coming back it looks to be just possible that these girls and their coaches will be jumping for joy with a title justly deserved.