East gets off to hot start, blanks EMEA

The East team (Haverstraw, N.Y.) on Aug. 9 shook off the effects of their tense 1-0 loss to District III in their Series opener to jump out to a huge lead against EMEA (Ramstein, Germany) and just kept attacking in a 12-0 rout shortened to five innings because of the tournament’s “mercy rule.”

It did not take long for Team East to get going.

Pitcher Taylor Corretjer led off the game with a walk, and Michelle Hoppe followed her on the bases after getting hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced because of a wild pitch, and Brianna Rivera knocked them both in with a single through the infield, staking the East to a 2-0 lead. Destiney Jones followed with a walk, and Samantha Wagenstein knocked in Rivera with a base hit. Jones came home on the play, as well, after an awkward throw by EMEA, pushing the East lead to 4-0.

With the bases loaded later in the inning, both Olivia D’Amelio and Corretjer walked to knock in runs. Olivia Ancin was able to score on a passed ball. Hoppe knocked in another run with a ground out to second, and the East team held an 8-0 lead before EMEA ever came to bat.

Corretjer didn’t need any more help in the game, as she struck out 10 EMEA batters and allowed only one hit in her four innings of work. Tara Sasso pitched a scoreless fifth inning to wrap up the game.

The East scored another run in the second inning, when D’Amelio knocked in Wagenstein with a base hit, and picked up three more runs in the third to end the game’s scoring.

The East team managed to score their 12 runs on only three hits, as EMEA pitchers walked nine and the team made three errors.