In between last week's raindrops, the valiant and determined girls of SYAC Softball played quite a few games with gusto!

American Girl defeats BNB Rentals 23-10

American Girl improved its record to 7-0 with a win over BNB Rentals on May 30 at Baylis School. Both teams were "undergirled" but played an exciting game. American Girl was led by Alivia Lang, Emily Ciavarella, Melissa Yao, and Samantha Schwarz. BNB Rentals was led by Jennifer Roche, Claire Vodicka and Sarah Rauchenberger.

American Girl defeats Chicklets 26-11

American Girl improved its record to 8-0 with a 26-11 win over the Chicklets on June 2 at Baylis School. The first two innings were a defensive battle with neither team able to mount an offensive attack. American Girl broke it open in the third inning with key hits from Samantha Lubash, Emily Emerson, Megan Sanchez and Nicole Rubin. The Chicklets were led by Cayley Gehnrich, Hannah Lyman and Michelle Rosen. For the second straight game, a scout from the American League was spotted at the game.

Camhi's Cuspids Over Punctuation 21 - 19

The bats came alive on June 2nd at Robbins Lane North field as Camhi's Cuspids topped Punctuation by a score of 21 to 19. For Camhi's Cuspids, going three-for-three were "Tricky" Niki Tuck, "Slamming" Sammy Mait, "Cruising" Carly Ferber and "Captain" Kate Hoffman. Going two-for-three were "Swinging" Sarah Camhi, "Tails" Taylor Russo, Kaitlyn "The Crusher" Young, "Jamming" Jennifer Colton, Sammy "The Slugger" Verdello, "Lucky" Lauren Greenberg and "Homerun" Hannah Camhi.

Also with outstanding hits to keep the team alive were Karishma "The Crasher" Nagrani and "Lightning" Lindsay Brown. Altogether, the girls made the win a total team effort.

Punctuation kept it a very close game with Ashley Freedman and Lindsay Kravit, both going five-for-five. Erica Warfield went four-for-four; Nikita Maddineni was three-for-five; and Jamie Warfield, Samantha Merenstein and Irvind Buttar all went three-for-four. Also keeping her team alive at bat was Rebekah Sugarman, who went two-for-four.

Throughout the game, both teams made outstanding plays in the field.

Mim's Restaurant Breaks Out with 20-10 Win Over Taxland Tigers

Mim's Restaurant broke its losing streak by beating the Taxland Tigers at the Baylis School's East Field on June 6. Each team scored four runs in the first inning, and after two innings Mim's held a slim eight-to-six lead. Mim's extended the lead after Diana Saber made two sparkling defensive plays that kept the Tigers scoreless in the third inning, and Mim's went on to win 20 to 10.

Leading the Mim's attack were Rebecca Raichek, Elizabeth Jacobsohn and Diana Saber, each going five-for-five. Carley Siegel, Abby Raichek and Rebecca Klar slugged out four hits each. Ashley Solowan contributed two singles and a double.

The hitting stars for the Tigers were Joelle Porush and Kelly Yuen, who both went four-for-four, while Geryn Ligator, Brianna Catania and Amy Cheong pitched in with three hits each. Both teams fielded the minimum seven players and the game was called after five innings.

Sonics over Grand Slammers 16-4

The Sonics and Grand Slammers squared off at Berry Hill Field for the second time this season, at a game that started at 6:35pm on June 2. No umpire was present, so everyone was happy when Jeff Gold came to the rescue and umped the game. Jeff definitely had a unique strike zone that was fair to both teams.

Both teams came ready to play, and it showed. They were competitive but remained true to the spirit of the game and had a fantastic time playing.

After a scoreless first inning, the Sonics bats came alive. All the girls kept their eyes on the ball, and for the first time this season, every girl got a hit in a game. This marks the second time this season that the Sonics offense came alive in such a fashion. Cara Rosenblum had her first single of the season and played shortstop, catcher and outfield. She has come a long way from the beginning of the season, and everyone is extremely proud of her.

Katie Lolis started the pitching for the Sonics. She went two strong innings and was then played first. Caroline Lydon, Riana Stadlen and Victoria Ciavarella also shared in the pitching responsibilities. Ashley

Allison came out strong this game, hitting well and playing superb defense.

For the Grand Slammers, Samantha Margolin, Amanda Kaplan and Julia Biegel, all were instrumental in the teams runs. It was a great game, and everyone walked away a winner. Final score of the game was Sonics over Grand Slammers 16-4 with a 1-1 series for each.

Allstars Top Magic-Gals 10-9

In a thrilling game on June 2 at Hap Harris field, the Allstars scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull out a 10-9 victory over the Magic-Gals. The winning rally was started by Carly Tumen, with big hits also provided by Chandler Goldberg, Stephanie Perry, Taylor Tully and Jennie Matte. Also, Samantha Machover's hit drove in Stephanie Perry and Taylor Tully with the tying and winning runs.

Jennie Matte picked up the victory in relief of starting pitcher Stephanie Perry. The Allstars turned in an all-around strong defensive effort highlighted by two fine defensive plays by Chandler Goldberg and Samantha Machover, who made a game-saving play at second base in the top of the sixth inning on a hard hit ball by Andrea Zalin with two outs and the bases loaded with Magic-Gals.

For the Magic-Gals, strong pitching performances were made by Andrea Zalin, Hannah Lafferty and Danielle Strumwasser. Offensively, the Magic-Gals were led by Lindsay Javitz, who singled, and Andrea Zalin, who hit a booming two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.

Access Tigers Top Maxwell's Furniture in 3-0 Pitchers' Duel

In a tense but thrilling pitchers duel, Access Tigers topped Maxwell's Furniture by a score of 3-0 on June 2. Lily Mummert pitched a masterful six complete innings for the Tigers, striking out 17 along the way. Alexis Bick also pitched a tremendous game, going the distance for Maxwell's and striking out 10.

Hits were precious few in this well-played game. The Tigers scratched out a run in the first inning and added two more in the fifth with a few timely hits and aggressive base running. Leading the offense with two hits apiece were Allison Kamin and Lily Mummert, who also had two RBIs. Also hitting were Heather Kwiatkowski, Lyndsay Pearlman and Zoe Saunders, who stroked had a key double.

Maxwell's played tight defense, turning five put-outs at crucial times and making several heads-up plays on errant baserunners. Maxwell's catchers Jessica Ackerman and Alyssa Wolfle both made heads-up catches on pop-ups behind the plate.

Maxwell's threatened repeatedly, leaving two runners on base in three innings. In addition to two sharply hit singles by Jennifer Spungin and one long drive by Lauren Quinn, several batters reached base on a Tigers miscue. One came with two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the sixth inning, feeding hopes of a dramatic comeback. However, at the stroke of 8p.m. and with sun falling low behind the H.B. Thompson gymnasium, Lily Mummert blazed a strike over the plate, and in an instant another fantastic SYAC softball game was done.

Premier Staffing Defeats Access Cougars 4-2

In a true pitchers duel, Premier Staffing defeated Access Cougars by a score of 4 to 2 on June 2 and the Hap Harris Stadium. Premier pitcher Melissa Klafter went all the way for the win and had a shutout until the sixth; she also had two doubles.

Premier starting the scoring with back-to-back doubles by Caitlan Judge and Amy Dreisiger in a three-run second. Catherine Woodard singled in the second run, and Lauren Gulamerian walked in the third. Rachel Riegel singled home the fourth run in the third inning.

Defense, however was the story. Melissa Klafter spearheaded two double plays. Lexi Melville was great at shortstop, and catcher Lauren Gulamerian put an end to a last inning rally by catching a pop-up.

Alex Friedmann pitched four strong innings for the Cougars. Ricki Weinstein had two key hits and scored a run. Jayshree Narendran had two doubles and pitched the last inning. Devin Reid had a big double, and Emily Gelfand played a great shortstop for Access.