Renegades’ Roll Hits Some Bumps

Stuyvesant’s softball team, the Renegades, started the season with a bang. Filled with double-digit wins and multiple mercies, they slugged and pitched their way to victory. However, they are currently going through the toughest part of their schedule, and have battled to maintain their place atop the Manhattan AA division.

The Renegades’ first and only loss thus far came on April 12 against Manhattan Center for Science & Math. The game quickly got away from the Renegades by the bottom of the second, having already given up four runs. “I think the biggest reason for our loss was the fact that it was our third game in a row, and we were pretty worn out after playing two long games before facing Manhattan Center,” senior and co-captain Charlotte Ruhl said. “Frankie was tired, but even more so were our bats and gloves. We made a few careless errors that ended up costing us a lot of runs.”

Fatigue and errors weren’t the only things holding back the Renegades. They also failed to adapt to faster pitching, a concern that Ruhl had voiced before the season began. “We weren't really able to adjust to the speed of their fast pitcher,” she said. The team will face Manhattan Center again later in the season, so that will be a game to watch, as the two teams hold the first and second places in their division by a wide margin.

Despite that loss, the rest of the Renegades’ season has been a resounding success. Outside of a hard-fought, 16-13 victory against Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, the team has handily beat their competition. Against Lab Museum United, a usually strong team, the Renegades are 2-0 with a run differential of +35. Junior Talia Kirshenbaum is leading the way with a .714 average, and Ruhl and junior Ruby Gary both have three home runs.

Against Cardozo, “Stuy put up a really strong fight on offense, and our hitters really pulled through,” freshman Angelina Mustafa said. “We really out slugged one of Queens’s best softball teams.” Their offensive performance against Cardozo High was one of the best outings they have had thus far. The team batting average was .384 in the game.

The Renegades’ season is certainly going well, as they currently have a 7-1 record, but recent games have forced the Renegades to fight hard to maintain their top spot in the division.