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Livingston Manor hosts baseball and softball tourney

Liberty and Eldred take home first place on Saturday afternoon

Anthony Morgano
Posted 4/28/23

LIVINGSTON MANOR – Eight teams, seven from Sullivan County, gathered at the home of the Wildcats on Saturday to compete for baseball and softball supremacy.

The morning began with a …

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Livingston Manor hosts baseball and softball tourney

Liberty and Eldred take home first place on Saturday afternoon

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LIVINGSTON MANOR – Eight teams, seven from Sullivan County, gathered at the home of the Wildcats on Saturday to compete for baseball and softball supremacy.

The morning began with a bike-a-thon at LMCS, and the parking lot was packed with community support throughout the day.

By the end of the day, Liberty’s baseball team and Eldred’s softball team hoisted the championship plaques after two decisive wins apiece.

Liberty and Livingston Manor opened up the morning with a 9 a.m. contest for both baseball and softball. The Indians won 14-4 in the opening round, turning walks and singles into runs against the Wildcats squad.

Tri-Valley and Margaretville followed up that first game with 13-3 Bears victory at 11a.m. The victory set Liberty and Tri-Valley up for a rematch from their non-league contest on April 18. Liberty won that first meeting 21-3, and were able to replicate that same winning recipe for a 15-5 win in the Wildcat tournament championship.

“We can’t defend a walk,” Tri-Valley coach Kevin Crudele said. “We’re getting better but haven’t put it together yet. Tournaments like this are good because they teach us about ourselves.”

Liberty coach Joe Franke was happy with his team’s performance. “The bats have gotten better and we’re just going to try to keep it up as long as possible.” 

In the consolation game, Livingston Manor’s plate discipline vs Margaretville’s lack of pitching depth led to the Wildcats’ first win of the season. The Wildcats won that game 19-2 in just three innings.

The Lady Wildcats shut out the Lady Indians in the opening round of the tournament, winning 12-0 over five innings and earning a trip to the championship round.

Monticello and Eldred squared off for the second opening round, and Eldred won 21-8 behind Lindsay Zgrodek’s four hits, including her first career homerun and hitting for the cycle. Bryn Greenfield added four hits in the win as well.

Liberty and Monticello faced off in the consolation round, and Monticello got ahead early, leading by as many as 11 in the contest. Despite the large deficit, Liberty’s offense came to life in the top of the 7th inning, scoring 8 runs and cutting the deficit to three, but were unable to catch all the way up.

“Our team battled hard,” Liberty Coach David Philips said. “They didn’t give up even being down by 11 runs going into the last inning. It was definitely one of our better games, and I hope that we can build on it as the season continues.”

Following the conclusion of the consolation game, Eldred and Livingston Manor faced off for the championship. The Lady Wildcats kicked it off with three runs in the top of the first, they were the away team despite hosting the tournament because Eldred scored more runs in the opening round.

Eldred, in the bottom of the first, retook the lead with ease, plating six runs and taking a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.

Both offenses were quiet from the second through the fourth innings, besides two runs from the Lady Yellowjackets in the fourth. 

Livingston Manor added a few runs but still trailed 9-6 going into the bottom of the sixth. Eldred doubled their score in the inning and took home an 18-6 victory.

“We had a really good day of softball today,” Eldred coach Bill Furler said. “Even though the scoreboard didn’t show it, we are still rebuilding from all of the senior leadership that graduated last year. [Livingston Manor’s Mackenzie] Carlson  is a heck of a pitcher, and I’m happy that we were able to hit well today.”

“We played very well in game one, but a few errors cost us against Eldred,” LM Coach Nick Wyss said.

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