Softball: A town rivalry draws even at a game apiece
TUCKERS 17, CLIPPERS 5 (6 INNINGS)
It’s North Fork softball’s version of Mets-Yankees. Two rivals, one town. Southold/Greenport red against Mattituck blue. It’s a rivalry in which the wins are sweeter and the losses are more painful.
The two high school teams experienced both sides of that coin this season, with the latest showdown ending decidedly in Mattituck’s favor. A seven-run rally in the fifth inning helped the Tuckers to a 17-5 win on their home field Friday. The game, played in bitter cold, was stopped in the sixth inning when the 12-run mercy rule came into affect after Ashley Chew charged across home plate on a throwing error.
The Tuckers (3-6, 3-6 Suffolk County League VI) scored in five of the six innings and generated 15 hits. All nine Tuckers who stepped into the batter’s box managed at least one hit.
Ashley Perkins had three of them and singled in two runs. Madison Osler had four runs batted in, the first three of them coming when she clubbed a double over the head of left fielder Katie Tuthill in the fourth. Jaden Thompson drove in three runs from a pair of doubles. Chew tripled and doubled and Grace Izzo also had two hits.
Lisa Angell gave up seven hits over six innings for the win. The senior right-hander walked three and struck out seven.
The Southold/Greenport batter who had the most success against Angell was the leadoff hitter, Toni Esposito. Esposito had two singles, drew a bases-loaded walk, stole two bases and scored twice.
The Tuckers took a 4-1 lead they never relinquished in the first, with the last two of those runs scoring on a double by Alexis Burns.
The Clippers (2-7, 2-7) have lost six straight games since beating the Tuckers, 13-8, on March 31 in Southold.
