By Erin Bruehl
The game remained scoreless until the sixth, thanks to stellar defense and some crafty pitching from McKee's Megan Lee and Lewis' Camille Sedayao. But things seemed to be heading the Patriots' way after Sedayao pitched out of several jams, including bases loaded no outs in the bottom of the fifth.Lewis (16-3 PSAL) broke through first in the sixth on a two-out RBI double from Tiffany Hernandez followed by an RBI-single from Michele Runko. Runko finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.However, McKee (14-8 PSAL) was not going to go out easily. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Kaitlyn Frankewich hit an infield single to score Melissa Pona. After a walk and wild pitch, Jennifer Bender brought home the tying run on a sacrifice fly to left.McKee head coach Jessica Ragucci said her team never got down after falling behind.”I told them to keep their confidence,” she said she told the team after the sixth. “I told them not to let things get them down and we were focused on being disciplined at the plate.”In the bottom of the ninth, the Seagulls loaded the bases on three consecutive walks from Sedayao, who walked an uncharacteristically high 11 batters on the day. This time the Patriots could not escape as Christina Gargiso hit a fly ball to center to score Lee with the winning run.Lee also dominated on the mound, despite not having great control of her changeup, her best strikeout pitch. Using her outside curve and fastball she struck out 11 batters, giving up eight hits and five walks in nine innings. She said she was a little nervous after Lewis scored but stayed confident.”You think about the whole season,” she said. “You don't want to give it all up because of those two runs. It [tying the game] gave us new life.”It was disappointing for Lewis but coach Manny Solomon and his team knew they'd kept it close.”We just didn't get the big hits like we had during the year,” Solomon said. “We would love to go back [to the title game] but we fell a little short today, that's it.”Reach contributing writer Erin Bruehl by E-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
