LIVINGSTON MANOR– Under sunny skies on a beautiful Saturday, teams battled through another exciting Annual Rockland Baseball and Softball Tournament, highlighted by high-scoring games and friendly rivalries. In the consolation matchups, South Kortright softball defeated Liberty 12-3, while Rockland baseball outlasted Harpursville 11-9. In the championship games, Monticello claimed both titles as the Panthers softball team rolled past Rockland 10-1 and the baseball team rallied to defeat Liberty 15-5 in five innings.

Consolation games:

South Kortright’s varsity softball team delivered a dominant performance in their consolation matchup, defeating Liberty 12–3 behind a strong all-around effort that included 7 hits and consistent run production across the middle innings, while their pitcher controlled the game over a complete outing. 

In the baseball consolation game, Rockland beat Harpursville in a much tighter contest, coming away with an 11–9 victory in a back-and-forth battle where both teams generated offense throughout, but Rockland ultimately held on late to secure the win.

Championship games:

Softball: Monticello Panthers vs Rockland Wolves

The first inning featured back-to-back strikeouts for both teams. Monticello’s Genesis Paredes-Torres snagged the first hit of the game with a massive triple in the top of the second inning. The Panthers were able to score on the next single. Kamila Collado was also able to steal both second and home off fielding errors, quickly putting Monticello up 2-0 in the second inning. The Panthers erupted for four runs in the third, and four more in the fourth to stretch the advantage to 10-0, finishing with eight hits while drawing four walks and striking out just twice offensively. Defensively, Monticello pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and limited Rockland to four hits. Rockland’s lone run came in the fifth inning, but Monticello remained in control the rest of the way to secure the 10-1 victory.

Monticello coach Alaina Gaughan had this to say after the win, “We played a great game and kept up the energy the whole time especially during at bats. Our pitcher had a great game too and she’s a 7th grader so I’m excited to see her grow as a player.” 

Baseball: Monticello Panthers vs Liberty Redhawks 

Liberty was able to shoot out to an early 2-0 lead over Monticello in the top of the first inning. But the Panthers’ Hunter Harris swiftly responded by smacking a double deep into the outfield and earning an RBI to put his team on the board. In the second inning Liberty started to turn up the heat with multiple chip hits and steals turning singles and doubles into RBI and runners covering multiple bases. Before long Liberty was up 5-1 going into the third inning. Monticello had a good chance to close the gap though, with bases loaded and no outs in the third inning. With a big triple by Owen Mann the Panthers were able to capitalize on their position and get three runners’ home to leave them down by one. But they weren’t done yet and went on to score another 3 runs to put them up 7-5 over Liberty going into the third inning and going on to score an additional run before the inning was over. It was still anyone’s game with only half the game over. Monticello sealed the deal with a highly productive 4th inning, scoring another 6 points to put them up 14-5 over Liberty. Luckily for the Panthers, they held the Redhawks to 0 runs in the fifth inning and scored once more of their own triggering the mercy rule to end the game. 

After their win Monticello’s Head Coach Rick Vreeland said, “We played a complete game and I’m happy for the boys. I’m glad we could win the tournament and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”