Sophie Miller of Horace Mann was 1-for-2 with two runs scored against Fieldston. (Denis Gostev)
Ray Barile touted Devon McMahon for her excellent ability to make contact with the ball and the coach called her “a singles hitter” leading up to the season.
McMahon went a long way toward busting that stereotype by hitting the ball a long way Wednesday afternoon.
“You made me look like I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Barile joked to her after the game.
The senior first baseman walloped a two-run triple in the second inning to give her team a six-run lead and Horace Mann went on to rout rival and host Fieldston, 15-2, in a five-inning, run-rule shortened Ivy League softball game in Riverdale.
The Lions (1-0) exploded for eight hits, four of them for extra bases, against Fieldston pitchers Lee Bernstein and Emily Kling in both teams’ league opener. Barile said before the season that he didn’t know what kind of offense his team would have after graduating slugger Lauren DelPrete. He might have gotten his answer against the Eagles (0-1).
“Unlike last year we don’t have one main power hitter, but all our batters can hit it far or play small ball, which is perfect,” McMahon said. “Even though we don’t have just a power hitter, a lot of us are strong and can hit it out.”
That includes precocious freshman Sydney Ginsberg, who slammed a long grand slam in the fourth inning to seal the run-rule victory. The switch-hitting third baseman has hit from the right side just once in the preseason to focus more on slapping and bunting lefty. But she showed how potent her bat could be in her natural stance.
“I was a little nervous coming into the game, first game as a freshman,” said Ginsberg, a travel ball player. “But once we started hitting the ball I calmed down a little bit.”
Shortstop Cara Annunziata started things off with an RBI triple in the first inning and after McMahon’s triple and an RBI groundout by catcher Sarah Sicular, who threw out two Fieldston base runners, Mann led 7-0 after the second inning.
That’s really all Mia Farinelli would need. The sophomore windmiller gave up just the two runs, neither of them earned, on two hits in five innings. Farinelli struck out five of the last six batters she faced in the cold and light rain and allowed no hits over the final three innings.
Horace Mann provided her plenty more run support. Ginsberg ended up going 2-for-5 with six RBIs and two runs scored, McMahon was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, Clara Hill had four runs scored and Annunziata, Sophie Miller and Roya Moussapour all had two runs scored apiece.
“I thought we could be this type of team,” Barile said. “We don’t take anything for granted. We have to go out there and do it. I’m very happy today.”
Even though McMahon negated his preseason statement.