Railroaders 2-0 on baseball diamond

By Keith Harrington

Whitehall High’s baseball team opened the baseball season in impressive fashion last week, winning a pair of Adirondack League games.

The Railroaders defeated rival Granville in the opener on Thursday and cruised past Hartford-Fort Edward on Friday. Whitehall was back on the diamond for the first time since winning the Class D state championship in 2019.

At Granville, the Railroaders pulled out a close, low-scoring game with the Golden Horde, 4-2.

Kaleb Lyman led the way with his bat and Tyler Brooks on the bump for Whitehall.

Lyman was 2 for 3 to lead the Railroaders at the plate.

Brooks tossed a two-hitter, giving up just a pair of fourth-inning runs.

The Railroaders scored three runs in the second inning and another in the third to take a 4-0 lead.

Granville scored two runs in the fourth to cut the deficit in half, but Brooks and the Railroaders shut down the Golden Horde the rest of the way.

Brandon Bakerian added a triple for Whitehall.

Connor Farrell and Ryan Kunen had RBIs for the Golden Horde.

Against Hartford-Fort Edward, Whitehall fell behind early but used huge second and third innings to pull away for a 12-2 victory.

The Railroaders led 1-0 after the top of the first. The TanaForts responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to lead 2-1.

The Hartford-Fort Edward advantage was short lived, and they didn’t score again.

The second and third innings were decisive as Whitehall exploded for 11 runs. The Railroaders scored seven in the second and crossed the plate four more times in the third.

Neither team scored again.

Bakerian was 3 for 4 for Whitehall with a home run and four RBIs. Spencer Dickinson was 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs. Michael Vandenburgh was also 2 for 3 and drove in two runs.

Jacob Whiting earned the win on the mound. Whiting and Tyler Fish shared the pitching duties with Whiting going five innings and Fish the final two. Whiting and Fish each had five strikeouts.

Peyton Ottens and Drake Stewart had the only Hartford-Fort Edward hits. Stewart drove in both TanaFort runs.

As of the end of the week, Whitehall is 2-0. Hartford-Fort Edward is 0-1.

Whitehall tops Horde in softball opener

By Keith Harrington

After a year’s hiatus caused by the pandemic, the Whitehall and Granville CSD softball teams hit the diamond again last Thursday, May 6, at Burch Field. The Railroaders have high hopes for the season as they will be led by Madison Gould, one of the area’s top pitchers. The Golden Horde is mixed with veterans and youth led by one of the Adirondack League’s premier players in senior Lexyss Zovistoski.

Gould and Granville’s freshman Lauren Bascom hooked up in a dual early, but the deep Whitehall batting order eventually imposed its will and pulled away for a 13-4 win in the season opener for both squads.

“All things considered I thought we played pretty well,” said Whitehall coach Pam Putorti. “It’s been a rough start to the shortened season. Due to the weather we’ve only been on our field once, and that was in the pouring rain to practice.”

Even with the lack of time on the field, Putorti was fairly pleased with her team’s performance.

“We had a few defensive miscues, but we were able to overcome them,” Putorti added. “We are hitting well, but we need to tighten up our defense.”

Both pitchers were dealing in the first two innings. Gould struck out the side in the first inning and picked up five Ks in the first two frames. Bascom had to work out of a bit of a jam in the first but spun back-to-back strikeouts to work her way out of it and set down four Railroaders herself in the first two innings.

Whitehall broke through against Bascom in the third. Kyrie Smith and Gould had consecutive hits to give Whitehall a 3-0 lead. The Railroaders added a run in the fourth when Olivia Whiting walked and scored on a Granville error to extend the margin to 4-0.

The Golden Horde fashioned a rally to make it a game in the fourth. Haley Corlew ended Gould’s no-hitter attempt with a bunt single. She then stole second base. Zovistoski nailed an RBI single to slice the deficit to 4-1. After Bascom walked, Rachel Beaver added a two-run single to bring Granville within 4-3.

The Railroaders did not allow the Golden Horde momentum to last long, exploding for five runs in fifth to take back command at 8-3.

Zovistoski smacked a solo homer in the sixth to bring Granville within 8-4, but Whitehall plated five more in the seventh to put the game away.

Gould scattered five hits while striking out 15 to earn the win for the Railroaders.

Bascom struck out seven in her varsity debut for the Golden Horde.

Gould had a pair of hits for Whitehall. Smith chipped in a double. Jayden Hughes also contributed two hits.

Zovistoski was 2 for 3 for Granville.

“Truly, it’s just great to be playing after last year’s canceled season,” Putorti said.

Whitehall was 1-0 after the win. Granville was 0-1.

Hartford-Fort Edward loses first two games

By Keith Harrington

After losing a talented group of seniors when they last were able to play in 2019, the Hartford-Fort Edward softball program is going through a rebuilding stage. The growing pains were evident last week as Hartford-Fort Edward dropped its first two games of the season to Warrensburg and Whitehall.

Russell Wade’s team lost eight seniors to graduation two years ago and was counting on last season to break in a new young core. With COVID-19 costing his team a year to gain experience, this season is starting off rough.

“We lost two pitchers, our catcher, third baseman, first baseman, shortstop and centerfielder. That’s a lot,” Wade said. “We’re starting from square one.”

On Thursday, May 6, at home against Warrensburg Wade’s team was not able to solve the offensive attack of the Burghers in a 19-1 Adirondack League loss. Warrensburg opened a huge early lead and were never challenged by the young Flying Tanagers.

The Burghers pushed a run across in the first, two more in the second and eight in the third to take a commanding 11-1 lead.

It was easy for Wade to pinpoint the crux of his team’s problem against Warrensburg.

“Errors. The first game was errors. We should have been out of that third inning with one or two runs,” Wade stated. “Warrensburg came ready to play. A lot of their girls play travel ball in the off-season, and it showed.”

A lack of veterans, a year off from playing and a shortened amount of practice time before beginning the season are all factors in Hartford-Fort Edward’s slow start, according to Wade.

“Our biggest issue is we only have three returners,” he said. “And a whole year off. And four practices. There was nothing. Not even off-season stuff. Give us another week to get some more games and practices under our belts where we can work on some stuff and we’ll be better.”

Warrensburg closed the game out by adding five more runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Nayana DeAmelia went 3 for 4, with a double and triple and three RBIs for the Burghers. Alonah Olden was 3 for 4 with a double, a triple and four RBIs.

Kailey Bacon earned the win in the circle, spinning a one-hitter with six strikeouts.

Warrensburg was 1-0 after the win. Hartford-Fort Edward was 0-1.

In the team’s second game of the season on Friday things didn’t get any easier for Hartford-Fort Edward as they were back on their home diamond against a strong Whitehall team. The Railroaders pounded out 22 hits on their way to a 24-5 win in five innings.

Whitehall jumped out to a 9-0 lead after two innings. Hartford-Fort Edward plated three runs in the bottom of the second to inch closer. However, the Railroaders bounced back to lead 13-5 after the third.

Vinna Jensen and the Whitehall defense shut down the Flying Tanagers the rest of the game, and the Railroaders tacked on 11 more runs over the final two innings to leave no doubt about the outcome.

Brooke Benjamin was 4 for 5 for Whitehall with a pair of doubles. Madison Gould was 3 for 5 with two doubles. Jensen added three hits including a triple. Blake Bird and Ava Ruby were also 3 for 4.

Alexis Sesselman was 2 for 2 with a double for Hartford-Fort Edward. Hannah Lawrence and 8th grader Ava Nadeau doubled.

Jensen spread around eight hits in picking up the pitching win for Whitehall.

Even with the two losses, Wade is trying to keep things positive.

We’ll take it day by day.” He said. “Our biggest goal is to improve game by game. Our biggest hurdle has been our timeframe. I hope that we are playing better by sectional time.”

Whitehall is now 2-0. Hartford-Fort Edward is 0-2.