They say "Revenge is Best Served Cold." Well, there was nothing cold about Friday's Adirondack League softball championship game at Moreau Rec but Whitehall was able to exact a little bit of payback anyway. After seeing their unbeaten season derailed by Lake George in the title tilt a year ago the Railroaders were able to flip the script.
The Warriors jumped out to a 2-0 lead two batters into the contest, but it was all Whitehall after that as the Railroaders rolled to a 12-3 win to claim their first crown since 2019.
"Yesterday at practice I was like okay, it's time for revenge," Whitehall pitcher Madi Gould stated after the game. "It just feels good to beat them finally."
The contest got off to a rocky start for Gould. Mattison Stark led off the game with a single for Lake George. Olivia Gates followed Stark by blasting a 2-run homer over the left field fence and it was 2-0 Warriors in the blink of an eye.
Gould was able to shake off the slow start and dominated after that.
"We lost a game this season so that helped. Last year we didn't lose at all," Gould said. "So we had experience for coming back."
Come back they did! Whitehall made it 2-1 after Vinna Jensen walked and came around to score on an error.
The Railroaders grabbed the lead in the second. After the bases were walked full Olivia Whiting hit a 2-run single to make it 3-2. Jensen then hit a ball to left field that seemed destined to leave the yard. The ball was caught at the fence, but Gould at third and Whiting at second both tagged up and scored to extend the margin to 5-2.
In the fourth Gould and Whiting walked. Blake Bird was hit by a pitch and Braydee Benjamin hit a 2-RBI single to make it 7-2. Ava Ruby drove in a pair of runs in the fifth. Khloe Paddock doubled in the sixth and came around to score on a Gould single.
Meanwhile, Gould was dealing. After the hiccup in the first Gould retired 15 out of the next 16 batters, striking out seven of the next eight. The junior finished with a 3-hitter and 15 K's
The other Lake George hit was a Samantha Gorey double in the sixth that led to the third Warrior run.
Last season when the Railroaders fell behind against the Warriors in the league championship game and sectionals they got down on themselves and struggled to come back. That was not the case this time around.
"That was one thing I'm super proud of the kids for. Last year we got down and they gave up," Whitehall coacj Pam Putorti said. "Last year we talked about that and this year they dug in and they fought back."
Next, both teams move on to the Class C sectionals where they potentially could see each other again. The Railroaders and Warriors will find out Monday if they will be in the same bracket again.
Lake George improves to 14-1. Lake George is 11-3.
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