Dalton CRA Softball Tournament Gets Underway
DALTON, Mass. – Julia Devoti went 2-for-3 with a home run and struck out five in three innings of work on Friday to lead the Berkshire Liberty 16-and-under travel softball team to a 14-2 win over the Greylock Thunder in the Dalton CRA Tournament.
Seventeen teams in four age groups are participating in the three-day tournament that continues on Saturday morning at Pine Grove Park.
Devoti and the South County-based Liberty got the upper hand in the tournament’s biggest division. Seven teams are vying for the title in the 16U division with six games today and six more on Sunday, culminating in the tournament’s final game, the age group championship at 4:45.
Three divisions got underway with an all-Berkshire County lineup.
In the 10U division, the Adams-Cheshire-Savoy Swat defeated the Berkshire Force, 17-7. In the 12Us, Rip City Softball defeated Dalton, 12-0. And in the 14Us, the Berkshire Visors out of Great Barrington topped Dalton, 14-6, in a game that ended due to the time limit.
Berkshire Liberty 14, Greylock Thunder 2
The Thunder struck first in the bottom of the first, using three hits to generate two runs.
Emily George started the game with a double, and Emmy Lane and Hannah Lord each singled in the rally.
The Liberty got one back in the second on an RBI single by Ava Ross, but it exploded for four runs in the third to take the lead.
In that third-inning rally, the Liberty cashed in on three defensive miscues and got an RBI single from Devoti to go ahead, 5-2.
It then put the game away with a nine-run fourth that featured Devoti’s two-run homer and triples from Emily Steuernagle and Samantha Ullrich.
Steuernagle pitched an inning of scoreless relief in the bottom of the fourth to end the game via the mercy rule.
Lane handled the pitching for the Thunder, striking out seven.
The Thunder Saturday play Mass Destruction at 8 a.m. The Liberty faces Halfmoon, N.Y., at 3.
Berkshire Visors 14, Dalton 6
The Visors scored nine times to erase a 6-5 deficit in the bottom of the third inning.
Mya Dupont and Brooke Decker recorded back-to-back singles to get the rally going.
After a couple of free passes to tie the game and load the bases, Sophia Deluca singled to right field to drive in a pair and give her team the lead.
Amber Raifstanger doubled to right to drive in two more runs, and Genna Free had a two-run single as the rally continued.
In the top of the fourth, Dupont allowed a one-out walk before retiring the side to end the game.
It was a back-and-forth contest early.
The Visors went up, 4-0, in the bottom of the first, when Free (3-for-3) had the big hit, an RBI triple.
In the top of the second, Rylee Kinzer drove in a pair of runs for Dalton to cut the deficit in half.
Dalton pitcher Sydney Payson gave up one in the second on Free’s RBI double, but Dalton’s offense pounded out three hits for four runs in the top of the third to take the lead.
Payson bunted her way aboard to start the rally, which included a sacrifice bunt by Malena Haczela and an RBI single from Kinzer (2-for-2) to make it 6-5.
Payson finished with four strikeouts in the loss.
Devoti struck out six to earn the win.
Dalton faces the KC North Roos of Plattsburgh, N.Y., on Saturday morning. The Visors face ACS Swat on Saturday afternoon.
