Stuyvesant Renegades 13, Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy Tigers 3

By Alen Makhmudov

Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity softball team the Renegades, led by seniors and co-captains Morgan Higgins and Ana Slade, had an easy win over the Riverdale/Kingsbridge Academy Tigers on Tuesday, April 17 in Central Park.

The game started out in Stuyvesant’s favor, as Higgins struck out three of the first six Tigers she faced. Meanwhile, the Renegades hit well and scored often—junior Gabrielle Gillow and sophomore Marie Frolich led the team with three runs scored each. Junior Miranda Kalish batted in three of the Renegades’ 13 runs in the game. “I actually played really well today, and the pitcher was easy to hit,” Kalish said.

And when the Renegades were able to get on base, they sped down the base paths. Freshman Megan Mullaney contributed three of the team’s six total stolen bases.

The rest of the game followed suit. The Renegades dominated the Tigers both offensively and defensively. And the fielders had some slack cut out for them by Higgins who was able to strikeout eight players in total. She gave up three runs, of which only one was earned.

The opposing team could not handle Higgins’ pitching, and often made costly errors contributing directly to Stuyvesant runs, including drops in both the outfield and at first base. This was especially apparent in the sixth inning when the Renegades plated five, to increase their lead to 10 runs, and ended the game on the 10-run mercy rule.

“It was a nice win today. I thought we can improve on defense. Overall I thought we hit well,” coach Vincent Miller said.

“I think we played really well. We need to improve our knowledge of where to throw the ball on some plays,” Slade said.

Stuyvesant Renegades 5, Riverdale/Beacon Blue Demons 4

By Aaron Coppa

After an early-season blowout to the Hunter College High School Hawks, the Renegades are on a five-game winning streak. And after a close victory on Thursday, April 19 against their rivals, the Beacon Blue Demons, which took them into extra innings, the Renegades are tied for first place in the Manhattan A Division.

In the third inning, with a lead-off hit and a stolen base followed by a single, the Blue Demons were on the board first. But the Renegades answered right back in the bottom half, with a base hit by junior Anna Wang, followed by a bunt to advance her, and a passed ball to take her home, tying up the game up at one a piece.

“We try to bunt more than most teams. But other teams try to run more than us,” coach Vincent Miller said. The Blue Demons were very aggressive on the base paths, compared to the conservative Renegades. However, in the fourth inning, this style backfired for the Blue Demons, as a runner was tagged out after accidentally leaving second base once she had beaten the throw. This was the second time this season the Renegades have pulled of this sort of trick play, and in a tied game, a runner in scoring position is vitally important.

By the end of the fifth, the Renegades had a 4-3 lead. In the top of the seventh, the Blue Demons responded with a lead-off walk turned run, but pitcher, senior, and co-captain Morgan Higgins kept the game tied. The bottom of the seventh flew by without a run.

In the top of the eighth, Higgins continued to dominate Beacon’s hitters, quickly retiring the side. To start off the bottom of the inning, junior Miranda Kalish hit a single. Following her, Wang hit another single and Kalish advanced to third. Kalish scored the winning run on a groundball, which gave the Renegades their sixth win of the season.

Higgins threw eight innings and gave up four runs, three of them earned. “I just tried to throw strikes. I knew that our team was playing really well today,” she said. “Everyone really hit in this game.” Higgins’s co-captain senior Ana Slade was also a standout at the plate, as she went 3-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

For the first time in years, Stuyvesant is hoping to win the division. “We’ve beat two of the toughest teams in the division,” Higgins said. But the team is only halfway through their season, and will have to keep working hard to achieve that goal.