HERKIMER, N.Y. – It has been a pair of years filled with firsts for Construction – from the infant school’s first graduating class to the softball team’s first PSAL Class AA division title. The last two days marked another one: the Red Hawks competing in a Mudville Softball tournament, which has become something of an institution among the best teams in New York State.
Construction did not leave the upstate enclave with a single victory, but showed it belongs in a 3-1 loss to Moore Catholic on Tuesday in a game between two teams ranked in The Post’s New York City rankings as part of the Missy Lasowski Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament.
“It was our first time out there,” Red Hawks third baseman Alyssa Burke said. “It opened our eyes to a different softball outside of PSAL. I enjoyed it. I like that we see this side. It helps us.”
No. 9 Construction had ample opportunities for a big inning against No. 5 Moore starter Gianna DeCesare, but that timely hit really didn’t come. Katherine Valle got the Red Hawks within 3-1 on a sacrifice fly that scored Amanda Garcia in the seventh inning, but DeCesare finished the game by getting Burke to fly out to center and pitcher Britney Rodriguez to ground out to short.
Construction got nine hits off DeCesare, but left seven runners stranded.
“That killed us,” coach Marco Migliaccio said.
So did defense at times. Rodriguez gave up just one earned run. The other two came in the fifth inning. Jackie Heinz reached on an outfield error and Krissa Sagona singled her home before scoring on another error. That at times porous ‘D’ seems to be the lone thing separating Construction from the truly elite teams in the city.
“The outfield is a little shaky sometimes,” Migliaccio said. “There’s games that they’re right on and there’s games that they’re not.”
Rodriguez has been on just about every game this season. The freshman left-hander allowed just five hits and walked one Moore batter.
She’s one of a number of underclassmen for the Red Hawks who will probably be seeing a lot more of Mudville in the coming years. The tournament was a great experience for the young program, Migliaccio said, and something very necessary if Construction wants to get better and better. Mechanicville, a perennial NYPHSAA power, beat the Ozone Park, Queens squad 12-0 on Monday and it lost a scrimmage to Adirondack.
But the coach, who will take his team to the Baseball Hall of Fame in nearby Cooperstown on Wednesday before traveling to face Tottenville on Thursday, couldn’t have been happier with how things turned out.
“It was great,” he said. “We’re gonna come up here every year. To see these teams, it was just unbelievable. I love playing these games.”