Final Weekend: Taking on the Diplomats and Postseason Play
By Jack Herr, Staff Writer
Gettysburg teams had a wild weekend of competition to finish off the semester. Let’s take a look at how the different Bullets teams ended their seasons.
Softball Claims Conference Crown, Advances to the Postseason
The softball team had a dominant weekend, sweeping McDaniel, winning the Centennial Conference title, and moving on to the NCAA tournament. They won game one 12-3 in six innings and game two 7-3. Sophomore Olivia Moser belted the second home run of her career in the bottom of the third inning, putting the Bullets up 3-1. After more scoring in the fourth, senior Shelby Baker blasted her second career grand slam to deep right-center in the bottom of the sixth, lifting the Bullets to victory. On the mound, first-year Megan Hughes threw a complete game with five strikeouts.
Game two featured sophomore Jasmin Herrera on the mound, punching five strikeouts in the first three innings and finishing with a complete game and seven K’s. The bats took off early as well with the Bullets putting up six runs in the first two innings. First-year Abby Zucatti contributed to the offensive efforts with an RBI alongside two each from Moser and senior Emily Colline. Baker, the star from game one, continued her hot streak, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI. McDaniel put up two in the top of the seventh, but the Bullets held on to win game two and sweep the double-header.
The softball team will have to wait a fair amount of time to find out their opponent in the NCAA tournament on May 17.
Track and Field Shines at Conference Championships
The women’s track and field team finished fourth overall at the Centennial Conference Championships this past Saturday May 1st. Led by five medal winners, this is the fourth time the women have placed within the top four at the Conference Championships.
Senior Diana Bianco Riley took the bronze in the hammer throw competition, earning a 120-10, her personal best and seventh all-time in program history. Junior Kathrin O’ Brien placed third in the 10K, finishing with a time of 40:10.15. Junior Kathrine Mangione earned a bronze medal in the discus throw competition, achieving a personal best of 110-06. Two first-years rounded up the impressive showing from the women, with Holly Ferrara placing third in the javelin throw with a distance of 120-02 and Alexa Schauder finishing third in the pole vault with a height of 9-00.25.
The men’s track and field had a similarly successful showing on Sunday May 2nd. The 4x-800 meter relay squad earned the silver medal for the Bullets. The four runners, seniors Dylan McKeever, Owen Crosby, Jack Kenyon, and junior Will Hopkins, finished with a lightning fast time of 8:08.11. Senior Nick Grissinger was the other medal winner for the men, placing third in the 400 meter hurdles event with a personal best time of 55.58. Grissinger captured his fifth career medal between his indoor and outdoor track and field careers.
Select athletes from both teams will compete at the last chance meet this upcoming weekend.
Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Suffer Defeat
The women’s lacrosse team had their undefeated season upended by the first overall ranked Franklin & Marshall Diplomats, losing by a score of 17-14 and giving them a record of 5-1. The first half featured a back-and-forth showdown between the two offenses, neither team able to gain a multiple goal lead until the final minute with the Diplomats taking an 8-6 lead going into the half. The Bullets, led by seniors Bri Stokes and Maddy Ruffini and sophomore Katie Fullowan, managed to keep the game close throughout the second half, but their offensive efforts during the final minutes were thwarted by F&M’s goalkeeper, and the Diplomats held on to win the Centennial Conference Championship. Four Bullets finished with multiple goals: Fullowan with four goals and three draw controls, Stokes with three goals and two assists, senior Kerry McKeever with two goals and four draw controls, and Ruffini with two goals and a caused turnover. Sophomore Shannon Twill recorded 12 saves in the net.
The women learned on May 3rd that they did not make the NCAA Tournament.
The men’s lacrosse team also lost to the 12th ranked F&M Diplomats by a score of 16-11. The Bullets got hot early, scoring three goals in under three minutes, with senior Alex Ulrich winning the opening face-off and scoring within eight seconds. Junior Kieran Ward contributed two of his three goals in the second quarter, and the Bullets went into the half with a 7-5 lead. The Diplomats fought back in the third, taking the lead with three goals in the final minute of the quarter, and the F&M attack did not stop in the fourth, scoring five consecutive goals. With a comfortable margin of victory, the Diplomats claimed the Centennial Conference title. Notable performances from the Bullets include Junior Connor Hume with his three goals and two assists, and Ward with three goals, one assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Senior Jack Fletcher’s three assists put him in the top-five Bullets of all time in career assists.
The men anxiously await May 9, when they will find out if they made the NCAA Tournament.
Tennis Caps Season
Both the men’s and the women’s lost by a score of 9-0 to F&M over the weekend. For the men, Bullets first-years Michael Zayneh and Alex Kagan put up two points in their doubles loss, and Kagan and junior Max Levy went into tiebreakers in their singles matches. For the women, junior Alexis Rinker and first-year Tierney Cantwell came up short in their doubles match, losing 8-6. Rinker led the women with six points in singles play, followed by first-year Gillian Rozenfeld with three.
Baseball Gets Swept
The Bullets baseball team suffered a pair of defeats against the Diplomats, dropping the first game 12-3 and the second 5-2. Starting pitcher for game one senior Dan Ball was roughed up in the first inning, letting up a home run off the bat of Will Samuel that gave the opponent an early 3-0 lead. By the third, the Bullets pitching and defense had given up four more runs, and their bats could not answer against the ace Kyle Roche. Gettysburg scored the second of its two runs off an RBI from junior catcher Andrew Decker in the bottom of the ninth.
Game two started similarly, with the Diplomats gaining an early 5-0 lead through three innings. Senior Erik Wortmann started on the mound for the Bullets. The offense, after stranding several runners on base, finally got on the board in the sixth inning, with senior Matt Szczesny smacking a triple into right-center and scoring off an RBI single by junior Mark Seibert. While Wortmann, senior Myles Burbank, and sophomore Kenneth Spadaccini combined to keep the Diplomats scoreless for the rest of the game, the Bullets managed to put up only two runs, dropping the second half of the double-header.
Baseball finished its shortened 2021 campaign with a record of 4-10.
