With end-of-school excitement in the air and the sun breaking through the stormy cloud-cover, the girls of SYAC Softball wrapped up their regular season and moved on to the thrill of playoffs. The following games were played the week of June 9, 2003.

American Girl Defeats Marc Pharmaceuticals 26-9

American Girl clinched the division and remained undefeated with a 26-9 win over Marc Pharmaceuticals on June 10 at Robbins Lane School. It was a great team effort by American Girl. Alyse Porsella, Samantha Murphy, Emily Moyett, Samantha Lubash, Alivia Lang, Megan Sanchez and Melissa Yao all contributed with three hits apiece. Taylor Coundouris led the defense with some great plays as pitcher's helper. Other defensive stars were Emily Emerson and Samantha Sklar, sharing the duties at second base, as well as Nicole Rubin at shortstop and Samantha Schwarz at first.

Connor Bird, Carly Saunders and Jessica Raphaelson led the way for Marc Pharmaceuticals. Julia Matlin made some great plays at third base.

Access Tigers Roar past Paston Insurance 8-2 to Advance in Playoffs

A nail-biting pitcher's duel went down to the final inning, but in the end the Access Tigers blew the game open with a hitting barrage that was capped by a three-run homer, and they topped Paston Insurance by a score of 8-2 on June 11 at H.B. Thompson Middle School. This was the opening game of the playoffs for both teams, and the Tigers now move to the second round in the Junior League. Pitchers Lily Mummert of the Tigers and Jennifer Zinc of Paston Insurance allowed only a handful of hits through the first four innings. Lily went the distance for the Tigers, allowing just two hits and striking out 10. Jennifer pitched into the fifth inning, striking out five along the way, before she was lifted for Olivia Faden, who got the final three outs.

Heather Kwiatkowski, Zoe Saunders and Lily Mummert all had two hits apiece for the Tigers. Paige Beeber beat out a pair of singles for Paston Insurance. In the bottom of the fifth, with the Tigers lead a slim 3-2, their offense came alive. Consecutive singles by Heather Kwiatkowski and Lindsay Pearlman were followed by a towering blast to left field by Lily Mummert. The bases cleared as the Paston girls hurried the ball back to the infield. The Tigers pushed two more runs across on a hit by Zoe Saunders, a pair of walks and two hard smashes by Courtney Keats and Annalisa Caramico.

Aside from hitting, the game was notable for sparkling defensive plays on both sides. Paston Insurance made eight putouts without a single miscue. Catcher Alyssa Cohen and pitcher Jennifer Zink both made heads-up catches of pop-ups. Danielle Zelin was rock-solid at first base, as she caught two pop-ups and made three put-outs to squelch Tiger rallies.

For the Tigers, Lindsay Pearlman was solid behind the plate. Zoe Saunders, Jessie Weinstein and Lily Mummert made great throws to first, where golden glover Heather Kwiatkowski made three put-outs and caught a pop fly.

Legal Eagles Edge Magic-Gals 11-10

The Legal Eagles pulled out an 11-10 win over the Magic-Gals on June 14 in the first round of the playoffs in what turned out to be a "nail-biter" of a game. The Legal Eagles took a 5-2 lead into the second inning with a double by Ashley Sandler and a triple by Lisa Cozza.

The Magic-Gals battled back and took an 8-6 lead into the fifth inning. The Legal Eagles then scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning, to take an 11-8 lead, with clutch hitting by Jenna Tachler, Noelle Perugini and Whitney Hoyas. Contributing key walks were Emily Hoffman, Rachel Messer and Alexia Castellia. Ashley Sandler pitched a complete six-inning game. She struck out the last batter in the bottom of the sixth to seal the 11-10 win.

Senior League

Premier Staffing Over JMB Architecture 18-7

Premier Staffing continued their winning ways, with a come from behind 18-7 win over JMB Architecture to secure a first place finish in the division. Premier Staffing delivered their usual fine defensive play, but a hitting barrage proved to be the difference in this June 10 game. Down 6-4 after one inning and holding a narrow 9-7 margin after two innings, Premier had back-to-back-to-back homers by Melissa Klafter, Jamie Cohen and Caitlan Judge. Rachel Riegel and Chelsea Di Giovani also homered. Judge, Riegel and Amy Dreisiger all reached base four times. The fielding was spearheaded by Lexi Melville at short and Riegel at second.

JMB was led by the hitting of Brittany Bitter, Jamie Novak and Erica Matlin. Melissa Galvan made a great play at second.

Diamond Divas Over Access Cougars

As she has been all year, Jayshree Narendran proved to be one tough pitcher on June 10 at Hap Harris Field. She displayed good control on her fastball, but she came on too late in the game for the Access Cougars to catch up the lead mounted by the Diamond Divas. The Divas had scored nine runs in the third before Jayshree took the mound, and the Divas held on for a 15 to 5 win.

In an early inning, the Divas batted around plus four extra batters. Gianina Ianiro hit well, and Kimberly DiGangi hit a home run. Carly Goldstein continued to be red-hot at the plate and in the field.