When Harrison squared off against rival Rye on Wednesday, they had two goals; downing a familiar foe and keeping a season-long winning streak intact. The Huskies would manage both, although it would prove to be more difficult than they imagined, topping the Garnets 2-0 in a thrilling pitching duel.
The game featured fantastic efforts in the circle from Harrison ace Gabriella Triano and Rye eighth grader Penelope Gilmore who both tossed four frames of scoreless ball to start the game. The Huskies would eventually break through on the top of the fifth when Triano pounced on an Gilmore offering to blast a solo homer. Triano would nail down the complete game shutout, fanning eight batters to help Harrison stay unbeaten.
“Both pitchers were fantastic today,” said Harrison coach Dean Marino. “And I was really impressed with [Gilmore] who is only an eighth grader but showed a lot of poise out there.”
Ultimately, the game came to down to timely hitting and solid defense, something Marino has said has been a calling card for his club all year long. Despite their impressive record, the Huskies haven’t been bludgeoning teams into submission, instead playing all-around fundamental softball to keep the perfect record intact.
“We’ve won a bunch of different types of games, but it all comes down to defense,” said Marino. “It especially helps [Triano] because she’s confident in the kids behind her and knows that even if the other team gets the bat on the ball, she’s got a great defense behind her.”
Rye (4-6) has lost three straight games but will look to get back on track when it takes on league foes Pelham and Eastchester on back-to-back days this week.
At 11-0, the Huskies are looking to close out the regular season in similar impressive fashion. They’ll have a stiff test this week, after press time, when they take on Tappan Zee, which boasts an 11-1 record. The Huskies have some other tough foes left on the docket, as they close out the regular season with back-to-back games against White Plains (11-2) and Ursuline (8-3).
“I’ve been very happy with the way we’ve been playing but there are still things we have to work on,” said Marino. “One of the key things is defending against the squeeze; we haven’t had a lot of chances to do that in games yet this year, but it’s one of those things that is going to be very important for us once we reach the playoffs.”
