On Saturday, the Verona High School varsity softball team tried to end a two-game scoreless losing streak as they put #14 Paige Ferrell on the mound to start against Newton High School.
Leading off for Verona was #9 Ellen DiDia who struck out. #2 Laura Hart came up and got a single to get the first hit for Verona. It was followed by a single by #6 Caroline Chivily, moving runners to first and third. #8 Olivia Feiger knocked a single to center field to bring in Hart and move Chivily to third, ending the two-game scoreless streak. A stealing Feiger put runners on second and third with one out. A pop out and strike out ended the productive inning for Verona. With a one-hit inning and Ferrell’s first strikeout, the score was 1-0 going into the bottom of the second.
A 1-2-3 inning put Newton back on offense. Ferrell put up a hitless half of the inning, putting Verona in a good position. DiDia got the first hit of the inning, but was thrown out trying to steal second. To start out the inning Newton’s batter hit an inside the park homerun to knot the score up at 1. A runner thrown out by Feiger ended the inning. Two straight walks and a single loaded the bases, but Verona came up empty to keep the score 1-1.
Feiger threw out another runner at third and #3 Courtney Paganelli caught a pop-up to end the inning. DiDia hit a single and a sacrifice bunt by Hart moved her to second with Chivily up at the plate. DiDia stole third and Chivily struck out, bringing up Feiger with two outs and a runner on third. Feiger came up empty, striking out keeping the score 1-1 through 5. A spectacular Willie Mays catch by Chivily put one out on Newton. A bunt put runners on first and second. Then a hard hit ball hit Ferrell in the thigh loading the bases and bringing her down in pain.
#15 Sam Bass entered the game with the bases loaded and one out replacing Ferrell. A single scored two making the score 3-1. #1 Natalie Wertz made a nice catch helping Verona end the inning, but Verona was down by two going into the bottom of the sixth. A single by #7 Marissa Manley started Verona off with a base hit then a base hit by Bass moved runners to first and second. That brought up #10 Shelly Herman who popped out, and then Wertz popped out, leaving the score 3-1 Newton going into the seventh. A nice play and strikeout by Bass put Verona on offense, but they needed at least two runs to extend this game.
DiDia led off with a strike out, then Hart came up, but ground out. Down to their last out, Chivily came up and got a single to bring up Feiger, who came up empty. The final score was Newton 3 – Verona 1, making the losing streak three in a row. Verona varsity softball’s overall record is now 1-3.
Matt Feiger is a student at H.B. Whitehorne Middle School. Photos copyright Bob Misuro. Used by permission.
