by Dakota Antelman
The Hawks varsity softball team won four straight games from May 7 to May 14. But thanks to a painful 12-6 loss to Marlboro Monday afternoon, they extended their sudden losing streak to a season high five games.
Monday’s loss was especially hard on the Hawks. Hudson and Marlboro play but once per season. Each time they meet, massive crowds gather, and tensions are high from the first pitch. Upping the intensity on Monday afternoon was the fact that this game was Senior Night for the Hawks.
When the loss came down, players were unnaturally quiet and solemn as they cleaned out their dugout.
“I don’t have to say much before a Marlboro game; that kind of takes care of itself,” Coach Mary Beth Ryan said of her approach to games like Mondays. “Unfortunately, they came out ready. They came out gunning for them, but unfortunately it didn’t pan out. Regardless though, our rivalry kind of speaks for itself.”
Hudson struggled early. Notably, a miscommunication between pitcher Michelle Perry and catcher Keaton Preshaw let a pop fly fall inside the infield and allowed Marlboro to load the bases. The Panthers tacked on four runs before Perry pitched herself out of the jam.
After the game though, Coach Ryan was not particularly upset about the second inning. That was largely due to the fact that Hudson quickly bounced back. Maddie Haufe and Haley Gaffney led the Hawks to post three runs in their half of the inning.
“I was proud of how they recovered,” Ryan said. We made some mental mistakes that turned into physical errors that then turned into runs [for Marlboro]. But then for them to come back and score three runs the next inning, I think that showed a lot of character on our part. I was proud of how they recovered. I just wish the errors didn’t happen in the first place.”
The teams remained scoreless in the third inning as Michelle Perry regained some command over her pitching. She struck out two batters in the third inning.
The temporary calm quickly broke in the fourth and fifth innings though as a home run by Marlboro’s Victoria Falco chanced Perry from the game. Amanda Doucette came into the contest as Hudson’s new pitcher. By the time she got to the sixth inning, Hudson was suddenly trailing 12-6. They were unable to make up the deficit.
Hudson did manage to sneak some sense of glory out of the loss to their rivals though. Their lone senior Bailey O’Brien made a sixth inning catch that prevented what would have been Marlboro’s second home run of the day. Already playing deep in left field, O’Brien was able to jump up onto the outfield fence at O’Donnell field and come down with a hard earned put-out.
Upon getting to her feet, O’Brien saw the entire Hawks team sprint onto the field. She walked towards the mob of teammates waiting at second base with a smile and a visible scratch from the fence showing on her face.
“It was outstanding for her to hang on to that ball,” Ryan grinned after the win. “She works really hard at practice and is consistently proving to me that she is the one that deserves to be out there.”
In the end though, a fifth straight loss is hard to swallow for Hudson. Long after fans and most of the team had left the field, Ryan still consoled a few lingering players, trying to boost spirits ahead of next month’s playoffs.
“It’s hard,” she said. “Everyone is struggling in their own way on learning how to deal with a loss or a streak of losses. It’s hard to lose. There are these tough games. We have close games. To not be able to sneak one away is tough. We’re hoping to get up.”
