New City Little League softball All Stars concluded an exciting 2010 season Sunday, falling to the talented Pearl River, 4-1.

The game had been postponed from Friday when lightning cleared the field and the ensuing downpour had forced them to reschedule.  They continued Sunday evening where they left off, with the game scoreless in the bottom of the second.  Pearl River quickly took the lead in the top of third, only for New City to promptly tie it up in the bottom of the inning. 

Excellent pitching and defense prevailed until the top of the fifth, when Pearl River took a three run lead and held onto it to win the game.

#11 Madison Borenkoff pitched the entirety of the game for New City.  Despite some difficulties in the fifth, she pitched a very solid game for her team.  In what was primarily a defensive contest, both team's excellent pitching was supported by solid fundamental fielding.  New City had an added difficulty this game, since they were forced to play without their shortstop and lead-off hitter #9 Gabby Palumbo due to a foot injury.  She has played an excellent season for her team and not having her left a hole in both their offense and defense.

Despite the loss, the rest of the team covered for her absence well.  Though both side's excellent defense prevented both lineups from coming alive, when they did get on base, both teams displayed heads-up base running.  #3 Ali Ilsley led the way for her team in this regard, when she jumped on a passed ball to score the only run for New City in the bottom of the third after stealing her way to third.

Both teams stayed neck and neck until the top of the fifth, when New City lost control and Pearl River pulled away to take a solid three run lead.  After leading off with a single, New City allowed the runner to score when they overthrew first on a grounder to third.  They backed up the play well, but the runner was already home and the batter safe at first before they had a chance to throw her out.  Borenkoff then struck out the next batter, however a shot to left field put a runner in scoring position. 

Pearl River then grounded to second to bring home their third run of the night when New City elected to make the safe play and get the runner out at first.  Pearl River scored their final run of the inning of a wild pitch from Borenkoff to start the next at bat.  They then popped out to short to end the inning.

Pearl River kept their lead with a 1-2-3 inning to bring the game to the top of the sixth.  #12 Carli "Cocoa" Solicito at shortstop made the stop and got the out at first on a grounder, which she followed with an excellent running catch on a fly ball to get the first two outs of the inning.  Borenkoff then closed the inning by fielding a grounder to get the out at first and retire the side in order.  Unfortunately, despite a single from Borenkoff, New City could not get another hit past Pearl River's solid defense and ended the game by flying out to second.

This loss ended an excellent season overall for New City softball.  Unfortunately, they were unable to bring another championship title to their hometown, though they certainly showed by their performance that they were capable of it.  Pearl River lived up to its excellent reputation and proved themselves to be top-notch competitors by defeating this talented team twice.

Despite the less than ideal finish, Glenn Powers, New City's manager, was very pleased with the season overall.  "I'm proud of the girls," said Powers. "They played well this year and it was a long, drawn out season.  It was hard to keep the girls focused, but they supported the other two teams and held their own against a very good Pearl River team."