Greylock Thunder Open Home Tourney with Convincing Win
The Greylock Thunder’s Arnhold struck out eight and gave up just two hits in an 11-1, five-inning win over the Berkshire Force in the 14-and-under Summer Storm Tournament on Fran Millard Field.
Genevieve Lagess went 2-for-3 with a double, and Gianna Witek was 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Thunder, which started its home tournament in style.
Arnhold was in control throughout after giving up a leadoff walk to Lillian MacDonald and a two-out RBI triple to Kylie Duhamel in the bottom of the first inning.
At one point, Arnhold sat down eight straight hitters, and she finished the game by retiring five in a row, the last on a popup to the circle in the bottom of the fifth.
“I love the fact that she’s focused on the batter, and I love the fact that she’s in control, she’s throwing strikes,” Thunder coach Mike Ameen said. “She’s keeping them off balance. She’s a pitcher, not a thrower, I guess.
“She’s getting better with her mind and channeling her emotions much better in the two months I’ve had her. And she continues to pound the strike zone, really.”
Her offense started to pound the ball in the third inning.
Force starter Harper Keay (four strikeouts) pitched around two hits and stranded a couple of runners in scoring position to maintain her 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
But Greylock, the designated visitor on its home field, broke through with a two-out rally one inning later.
A leadoff walk and an error on Kyleigh Cooper’s sacrifice bunt attempt put a pair of runners on base.
Key struck out the next two hitters, but Witek ripped a single up the middle to drive in a pair.
Lagess then singled, and another error let Witek score and extended the inning for Kenadi Arnhold, who singled to left to make it 4-1.
The next time up, the Thunder sent all 12 of its batters to the plate in a 12-run rally. The big blows came from Lagess and Marlene Eason, who each had an RBI double in the five-hit inning.
The Thunder will be back at it bright and early on Saturday morning with an 8 a.m. first pitch against South Troy to kick off a full day of tournament action at Alcombright.
Dalton joins the action in the 8 a.m. time slot on the complex’s other softball diamond. The Force play their first Saturday game at 9:45. The Thunder will play Dalton at 4:45 to wrap up pool play. Eight teams will be seeded for bracket play, which gets underway at 10 a.m. on Sunday and wraps up with the championship game at 3:30.
Ameen is happy for the chance to showcase his players and other young athletes from around the area in their back yard.
“It’s a lot of work to put [the tournament] together, but, when you come down to it, it’s a softball game, and it’s great … I think I live two and a half minutes from here,” he said. “I’d rather drive two and a half minutes than two and a half hours.
“It’s Berkshire County softball team. The bulk of my team’s all Berkshire County. I’m sure the bulk of [the Force’s] team is all Berkshire County. Fourteen and under, that level, they could beat some varsity teams, I know. … Good, quality softball.”
