BROOKHAVEN – Fresh off a brilliant 2-0 win against Bellmore JFK in Friday’s semifinal, defending Class AA champion Clarence was unable to play as well Saturday. As a result, the Red Devils fell 8-4 to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake in Saturday’s title game of the New York State High School Athletic Association softball championship.
Ella Harrison, a senior headed to Rutgers University on a scholarship, dominated Burnt Hills for the first two innings, recording five of her game-high 11 strikeouts at the Martha Avenue Recreational Park. But the Section II champs scored five runs in the third inning to take command en route to the victory.
“It’s hard to repeat,” Clarence coach Todd Banaszak said of his team trying to defend its 2023 state crown. “And that’s a gritty team. Congratulations to them.”
Harrison and Katie Rhodes were locked in a pitchers’ duel for two innings, then Burnt Hills got hot.
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Addisyn Knapik singled to start the third, and Carly Ewing bunted for a hit. Bailey Dinon drove in her team’s first run with a grounder, then Lily Haluska singled to center field to drive in two more. Ava Yahoudy and Lilly Morse followed with RBI grounders, not giving Clarence a chance to make plays at the plate.
Things worsened for Clarence in the fourth as back-to-back errors set up Haluska for an RBI hit.
Taylor Paveski walked and scored in the bottom of the fourth for the Red Devils. Olivia Collins had an RBI hit in the frame, then Banaszak’s team answered Burnt Hills’ run in the top of the fifth inning with three in its half.
After singles by Clarence’s Caitlyn Sweeney, Samantha Pusloskie and Lauren Holley, Ella Zobel had a sacrifice fly. Harrison grounded out to plate another run and a wild pitch scored the third.
Clarence (19-5) threatened in the sixth as Sweeney, Pusloskie and Holley had hits. Burnt Hills made solid plays to strand the runners, and Rhodes had a 1-2-3 seventh to clinch her team’s first title.
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Clarence softball coach Todd Banaszak talks to his team during practice on Wednesday. The Red Devils lost 8-4 to Burnt Hills in the Class AA state final on Saturday.
“I have no answers,” Banaszak said of why his team was not as sharp in the title game as in the semifinals. “Every time we made a mistake, they capitalized, they took advantage.”
Clarence outhit Burnt Hills 10-6, but committed four errors to Burnt Hills’ two.
“She (Harrison) is phenomenal, and they’re a good team,” Burnt Hills coach Caitlyn Rana said. “But we were prepared. It’s an amazing feeling.”