More than a generation ago, just as the New York State Public High School Athletic Association started to hand out championships in softball, Solvay earned the Class B state crown in 1986. Nearly three decades later, the Bearcats had a second chance to add a second title to that long-ago prize – but Saturday afternoon’s title game at the Moreau Recreational Park in South Glens Falls ended in the same unforgiving manner as it did in that same venue 12 months earlier. Here, it didn’t go to extra innings, as it did a year ago when Solvay fell to Eden 1-0 in the 2014 final. Instead, a tough, veteran group of Bearcats was done in by a freshman – namely, Ichabod Crane pitcher Calista Phippen, who led the Section II champions past Solvay by a 3-2 margin. It all started with an early wake-up to play a 9 a.m. state semifinal against Section IX champion Marlboro, from Ulster County. The Iron Dukes were in search of its first-ever state title – but Solvay never let them into the argument, using Gardner’s brilliant pitching and a pair of outbursts at the plate to mash Marlboro by a 12-0 margin. With the game still 0-0 in the bottom of the third inning, the Bearcats broke through against Iron Dukes pitcher Cassie LaPointe. Jordan MIcheletti singled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and then raced home on Aleah Yaizzo’s squeeze bunt Just as important, though, was seeing Gardner overcome two walks in the top of the fourth to get out of the jam and keep her team in front. Perhaps feeling responsible for that trouble, Gardner stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and, with Molly McGuire on first, crushed one over the fence, a two-run home run. Sparked by that deep ball, Solvay loaded the bases for Nicole Antonacci, who delivered an RBI single before Brandi Pidkaminy’s two-run single made it 6-0 through four frames. Any doubts about the outcome ended after Gardner got out of a bases-loaded situation in the top of the fifth. Marlboro never threatened again as the Bearcats, batting around in the bottom of the sixth, tacked on six more runs, sparked by RBI hits from Antonacci, Pidkaminy and Delperuto. While Solvay was rolling past Marlboro (Section IX) 12-0 in one state semifinal on Saturday morning, Ichabod Crane, a school located 25 miles southeast of Albany, was shutting out Alden (Section VI) 1-0 in the other state semifinal, the Riders getting a no-hitter, with just one walk allowed, from Phippen. Now Phippen faced a seasoned lineup that, anchored by seniors like Gardner, Chelsie Delperuto, Molly McGuire and Nicole Antonacci, was bent on making the last game of their high school careers a triumphant one. Phippen was not rattled one bit, though. In each of the first four innings, Solvay got a base-runner, with Antonacci getting a walk and double, but every time Phippen pitched out of it, amassing 11 strikeouts in those first four frames. Gardner matched those zeroes until the bottom of the fourth, when Crane poked across two runs. Jen Van Alphen doubled and scored on Danielle Flint’s single, and Jordan Dormandy drove in the Riders’ other run. For the first time in the entire post-season, Solvay was dealing with a deficit, and had just nine outs to figure out Phippen. It almost happened in the top of the fifth. The Bearcats had the tying runs in scoring position with just one out, and Delperuto at the plate. Delperuto hit a liner – which turned into a double play. Then, in the sixth, two more Solvay runners reached – and Phippen stranded them. With a chance to add to its lead in the bottom of the fifth, Crane stranded two runners, but another leadoff double by Flint in the sixth led to a third run when Flint made it to third and scored on Dormandy’s groundout, giving Phippen more of a cushion. Crane had no idea how important that run would be.
Batting in the top of the seventh, Antonacci, with one out, singled. Pidkaminy was retired, but with two outs Delperuto offered one more colossal blow, a home run over the left-field fence that cut the Riders’ lead to one. Somehow, Phippen stayed calm and fanned McGuire for the final out, her 15th strikeout of the game, giving Crane its first softball state championship – and leaving Solvay agonizingly close again.