This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Dodgers Softball Win Streak Ends vs. Rival Chatham

The Cougars' Amanda Fazio struck out eleven in the effort, but Nikki Caruso continued to hit well for Madison, going 2-for-2 with a walk.

The Madison High School softball team had begun to fight its way toward a .500 record last week, taking home back-to-back wins against Hanover Park and Walkill Valley to bring its record to 3-5, but on Monday afternoon Madison's win streak was ended by an 8-1 loss against the Chatham Cougars.

The Madison offense faltered against Amanda Fazio's pitching–she struck out eleven batters, with five going down looking, and only allowed five total hits. First baseman Mackenzie Ellis had the only RBI of the day for the Dodgers, and shortstop Nikki Caruso was the only Dodger who found her way on base safely in every at bat, going 2-for-2 with a walk.

"We lacked on offense, and made some careless errors in the field," said Caruso.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An error on what would have been the third out in the fourth inning proved to be especially costly for Madison, and Chatham rallied with two-outs, scoring three runs and improving their lead to 7-0.

But Madison's defense did not completely crumble. Emily Klein and Kelli Scotti both made tough catches in the outfield that exhibited their speed and ability to catch the ball on the run.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I had a good read on it," said Klein. "I was excited; it was the first ball that has gone to left field in like five games."

Caruso also made a running grab, covering the ground all the way from shortstop to behind the third base foul territory in the bottom of the fourth. She was responsible for seven outs in the game and for all three outs in the bottom of the fourth.

"I thought it was my best game on defense the entire season," Caruso said.

The only Madison run was scored by Klein, who hit a single with one-out in the top of the sixth. Klein stole second and ended up on third after a passed ball, and with two-outs Caruso walked to keep the inning alive, giving Ellis the opportunity to hit an RBI single.

The Dodgers might have scored earlier, when Victoria Ellis hit a line-drive to left-center field that rolled under the fence for a ground-rule double, forcing Caruso to stop at third when she might have been able to make it home.

"We didn't bring our best game today," said Klein. "But we have a big week ahead of us, so hopefully we can do better."

Chatham was 6-4 going into the game, but had been 6-1 only last week. They lost on Friday night to Jefferson, and then lost both games of a double-header on Saturday, one against Morristown and one against Morris Hills. All three losses were by one run, and all three came after their starting catcher, Alex St. Romain, was injured. She returned against Madison and went 2-for-4, scoring one run.

"We got our catcher back, and had some big hits," said Chatham coach Alexis Davies. "I knew we would bounce back. I didn't have any doubts."

The Dodgers will face the Academy of St. Elizabeth in Madison at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Madison has not yet won a home game this season.

Highlights

Emily Klein – 1-for-3, 1 run scored

Nikki Caruso – 2-for-2, walk

Mackenzie Ellis – 1-for-3, 1 RBI

Victoria Ellis – 1-for-3, double (ground-rule)

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?