This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Chatham Girls' Softball Escapes With 4-3 Win

A questionable call hurt the Cougars, but the team bounced back.

WHIPPANY — Quality pitching and timely hitting led the Chatham Cougar softball team to a 4-3 win over Whippany Park on Monday.

"This was a non-conference game and we're looking to get on a roll," Head Coach Alexis Davies said. "We haven't played in several days and I don't feel like we have a good rhythm, so that's what we're looking to do this week."

Starting pitcher Amanda Fazio looked strong, going seven innings while allowing only three runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out four in the win.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Offensively, the Lady Cougars showed up early. In the first inning, after Fazio led off with a double and Kendall Davies walked, senior catcher Alex St. Romain came up with runners on first and third.

Chatham then executed a double steal to perfection, taking an early 1-0 lead.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Lady Cougars would add to their lead in the third inning as Catrina Yohay worked a walk to lead off the inning. With one out, Fazio hit a bloop single to shallow right field, moving Yohay into scoring position.

After a sacrifice bunt by Davies moved the runners to second and third, Yohay scored on a wild pitch, giving Chatham a 2-0 lead.

With runners on second and third, Chatham again executed a double steal, scoring its third run of the game.

Chatham would score another run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of Yohay.

In Whippany's half of the seventh, after Fazio retired the first two batters, Alexa Cozzarelli kept Whippany alive with a single. Next, Sarah LaFerrara hit a single to shallow left field.

This is where things got interesting.

With Cozzarelli headed to third, an errant throw went out of play, scoring Cozzarelli.

A questionable call by the umpire—saying that LaFerrara was on second at the time of the errant throw—allowed her to score, making the score 4-3.

"You have to live with those calls sometimes," Davies said. "I usually don't argue too much, but I thought that was blatant because second base was wide open. Nobody was there.

Fazio would settle down, though, recording the final out of the game and leading Chatham to its win.

"It's all about looking forward now," Davies added. "We're not learning anymore, we're just playing."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?