Fogarty, G&C win openers

Rainy weather last Thursday night washed out the second week of action in the North Fork Women’s Softball League, but the sparkling play of opening night on June 3 at the Polo Grounds in Greenport remained a fresh memory.

Fogarty Air Conditioning Service, the two-time defending champion, broke open a close game with five runs in both the third and fourth innings on the way to a 16-4 win over Allstate. Holli Bollman paced Fogarty by going 5 for 5 while Elaine Milovich, Melissa Corwin and Melissa Groenveld all had four hits.

The Fogarty bats began booming right from the top of the first inning when Diana Stulsky, Lisa Lappe and Corwin all lined run-scoring singles. In the third, Milovich led off with a triple and scored on Bollman’s single. Courtney Meringer, Lappe, Cathy Checklick and Groenveld each singled in runs.

Meringer then ripped a three-run double in the fourth. Groenveld followed with a two-run double. Meringer added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. The final two Fogarty runs scored on run-scoring singles off the bats of Stulsky and Corwin.

“We pretty much have the core of our players back,” Stulsky said. “But we were also able to work in a few new additions to our team.”

In the other opening-night game, G&C Petroleum had to rally in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a thrilling 8-7 victory over Eric’s Lawn Care. Emily Commins singled home Diana Visser with the winning run.

“This was a very good game,” G&C’s Jane van den Thoorn said. “We are delighted we were able to win it.”

Playing without five of its veteran starters, G&C had to battle back the whole game. Eric’s Lawn Care took an early 2-0 lead in the first and was on top, 5-2, midway through the third.

But G&C rallied to score a run in the third and two in the fourth to tie the score at 5-5. Eric’s Lawn Care again pulled ahead, 7-5, in the fifth.

G&C, though, had one more rally in it. It tallied a run in the sixth and then used a little late-inning lightning to pull out the win in the seventh. Sara Hess ignited the winning rally with a single. Visser then lined a one-out single. Olga Turner, G&C’s winning pitcher, singled home Hess to tie the score. Commins then smacked the game-winning single. “Once we had nine girls and we knew we could play, it was a good experience for the new girls on our team,” van den Thoorn said. “It was close, but it was awesome the way we came back and won it.”