LAKE HUNTINGTON – In softball, as well as baseball, pitching is key. Dominance on the mound can neutralize powerful hitting. To that end, control is vital to avoid putting runners on base via walks which, in softball often result in stolen bases. 

For both Sullivan West and league foe John S. Burke, putting runners on base and then firing balls past the catcher accounted for the majority of the scoring in the Lady Westie’s 19-12 victory. 

Early on, the teams were evenly matched. By the end of the second inning they were tied at 5-all with a total of eight walks between them but only two hits apiece. Sullivan West starter Liz Reeves and Burke hurler Demi Gianetto were having the same issue. Over her three innings of work, Reeves managed only one strike out, while Gianetto posted none. 

In the third inning, Reeves allowed only one run and in the bottom of the frame, her teammates batted around and put up five runs to take a 10-6 lead. Then dramatically, Burke tied it up in the bottom of the fourth profiting from walks, a hit batter and an error in the outfield. 

Nicole Reeves took the ball from her twin sister and managed to escape the Burke rally after yielding only a single run following her sister’s struggles. 

The game turned in Sullivan West’s favor in the fifth inning when N. Reeves got out of a bases-loaded jam to induce a fly out to Hannah Ablanalp at third to prevent Burke from scoring. Sullivan West followed with a four-run fifth inning burst to take the lead they would not relinquish. 

Burke junior Mary Grasso had come on in relief of Gianetto and was firing much faster pitches. But control was an issue for her too with four walks and a spate of passed balls that enabled Sullivan West to move runners with great regularity. 

Burke would score two runs in the top of the seventh inning but only after the Lady Bulldogs had added five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Sullivan West went home with a 1-0 (1-0) record but then was shut out by James I. O’Neill to even their ledger at 1-1. 

The Lady Bulldogs faced Seward in a league clash yesterday and will host Chester on Wednesday.