By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — In a game of cat and mouse, the Olean softball team’s quick start was the ultimate difference maker in its 10-6 win over a pesky Allegany-Limestone side.
The Huskies and Gators both rode into their second cross-town rivalry game of the season with three consecutive wins in tow, all of which were collected by wide margins. The former entered the affair winning their last three by a combined score of 35-0. The latter won their last three games with a combined 36-0 scoreline.
Sadly for the hosts, their bats were the cooler of the two from the first pitch as Olean jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Granted, they were helped out largely due to the number of early errors racked up by the A-L defense. And while Olean coach Steve Anastasia gave his team credit for its performance, he did not mind benefitting from his opponents’ mistakes, as he noted, his team made some of their own that could have condemned them.
“That’s what they do, they played all game,” Anastasia said of his team’s effort. “I mean, we made a bunch of mistakes as well. So we kind of brought (some struggles) on ourselves. So, I told the girls, they had to dig ourselves out of a hole we kept putting ourselves in. And they did that, so I give them credit, all year they’ve done this.”
Unfortunately for the Gators, their mistakes, while the majority may have come early, wound up playing a much bigger factor when all was said and done. And according to A-L coach Kaelyn Arnold, it was those same small mistakes that led to their initial loss to Olean earlier in the campaign.
“I told my girls, we got to have all seven innings today,” Arnold said. “(Olean’s) a good team, and the little mistakes that’s going to cost you, which it did at the end. So, if we clean that up, we’re right there. I told my girls, ‘we’re so close, we’re right there.’ But, we got some people in some new positions with injuries, so we’re working at it, trying to figure out what we can do before the playoffs.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Kailey Truman (10) winds up a pitch against Olean. Truman finished with nine strikeouts and three walks for the Gators in their loss to the Huskies. (Spencer Bates)
But the problems for the Gators did not stop on defense as Olean’s Emma Edwards diced her way through the A-L lineup from the circle. Finishing with 12 strikeouts and four walks, Edwards blanked A-L through three frames.
And while she did have some struggles in the latter innings, the overall performance was one Anastasia was satisfied with.
“She’s a different pitcher when she gets up early in the count, like every pitcher is, but especially today,” Anastasia said. “I think that was a big difference. At the beginning, she was right around the strike zone, she got ahead early, she was able to work the batter. Whereas late, she kind of fell down in the count, and we had to just avoid a walk.”
The Gators did eventually figure some things out offensively in the middle innings, scoring three in the fourth to cut the Huskies’ lead to just one and matching their guest’s two-runs response in the fifth and one-run output in the sixth to keep the comeback within striking distance. A level of fight that Arnold acknowledged has become synonymous with her resilient team.
“I’m the one who usually gets nervous, they know they need to attack and they get right on it,” Arnold said of her team’s fight. “So to me, that’s great to have, especially if we’re going to try to go deep in the playoffs here.
“I know I’ve said it before, but these girls are resilient. They really know when to step it up, and they know when they make those couple of errors that they can reverse it on the hitting side. And a couple of the girls did that. We’re just so close.”
But at the end of the day, A-L’s fight came up just short. Entering the seventh, it had managed to keep Olean just one run away, and with two outs on the board, and a ground ball sent right back to A-L pitcher Kailey Truman (9 SO, 3 BB), it looked as though the hosts would have a good chance to pull off the dramatic win via walk off. But with nobody covering first base, the Gators were kept on the field, a mistake that paid off drastically for Olean as it scored three insurance runs with those two outs on the board after the missed opportunity to get out of the inning.
Olean’s Mallory Carter (13) connects on a pitch against Allegany-Limestone. (Spencer Bates)
And for Anastasia, that type of maturity and growth, to continue battling while down to one out remaining, is reassuring.
“There’s no rookies anymore,” Anastasia said. “I mean, we’re in our 16th, 17th game. So, yeah, they’re all veterans now. We’re not using the excuse, ‘you’re an eighth grader, you’re a seventh grader.’ You’re a varsity player now. You’ve seen enough, you’ve been here enough, I’ve talked to you enough. And they step up. It’s tough for an eighth grader to play in this atmosphere. The game’s faster, everything’s faster, but they’ve responded.”
And the three final-inning runs were plenty for Olean as it walked away with its fourth consecutive victory, a motivational boost for Anastasia who is hoping to see his team hit its peak at the right time.
“We have to be playing our best at the end of the year,” Anastasia said. “Everybody’s goal is to keep playing your best when you go into the playoffs. We’ve got an opportunity to be one of the top four seeds in the As, which gives us two home games. That’s our goal right now. And we still have a shot at the league.”
As for Arnold, the message she has for her team heading into the home stretch of the schedule is a simple one:
“We just got to clean it up,” Arnold said. “We got to clean it up on defense, and we got to have everybody hitting. That’s the biggest thing.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Kendall Lemon (6) swings at a pitch against Olean. (Spencer Bates)
Olean will hit the road to face current league leaders Fredonia on May 15 at 5 p.m. for its penultimate game of the regular season.
Meanwhile, Allegany-Limestone will make a trip to Salamanca on May 15 for its penultimate regular season game, set to begin at 5 p.m.
AT ALLEGANY
R H E
Olean 301 021 3 10 14 4
Allegany-Limestone 000 321 0 6 6 4
OL: Edwards (12 SO, 4 BB) and Bates
A-L: K. Truman (9 SO, 3 BB) and P. Truman
