Renegades Defeat Curtis, Advance to Second Round

Fresh off a successful 10-4 season, the Renegades, Stuyvesant’s girls’ softball team, earned the 13-seed and faced off against the 20th-seeded Warriors of Curtis High School (7-7) in the first round of the playoffs. With a second-round playoff loss still on their mind from last year, this game was one of revenge for the Renegades.

With great defense all around, timely hitting, and a strong performance by senior and co-captain Frankie Michielli (7 innings, one earned run), the Renegades won 3-2, staving off a comeback attempt by the Warriors to close the gap from 3-1 in the top of the seventh. “We made a lot of great plays in crucial situations today and hopefully we can continue to do that tomorrow against an even tougher team,” junior and co-captain Charlotte Ruhl said.

The victory was a well-balanced one: the Renegades were able to manufacture runs and hold off the Warriors’s attempts to score, as Curtis only scored two runs despite 11 baserunners.

The damage started with a run scored by sophomore Ruby Gary in the bottom of the third on a wild pitch. As strong pitching and defense kept the Warriors at bay, the final two runs came off a two-RBI triple by Ruhl, which ended up being the difference in the tight affair.

The Renegades, who started off the season strong on offense, had since cooled off, only scoring 27 runs in their final four games of the regular season compared to 71 runs in the four games before those. “To start the season, most starters were making good contact, and we were having many double-digit-hit games. The offense has been doing well but not as strong as [it was] early on,” coach Vincent Miller said.

Earlier in the season, the Renegades struggled with fielding. Their only other loss this season—against The Beacon School (7-6)—was a result of the errors made, with eight of the 12 runs allowed being unearned. The games against Manhattan Center were a frustrating reversion to the team’s earlier ways. “They are definitely a [defeatable] team, but unfortunately, the number of errors we had caused it to be really hard for us to have a comeback,” sophomore Ally Archer said.

Consistent fielding is something the Renegades must focus on if they hope to continue their run in the playoffs, and they were able to display that on Tuesday against Curtis. With fourth-seeded High School of Construction on the horizon, the Renegades have a big obstacle in their path to the championship. However, they certainly aren’t letting that stand in their way as they prepare. “[High School of] Construction is going to be the toughest opponent we will face all season, but if we play the way we've been playing I’m confident we can win,” Ruhl said.