COLONIE — Jess Annello, Colonie’s pitcher, got 12 Guilderland batters to strike out last Friday during the Class AA quarterfinals. After the game, some Dutch players weren’t happy about it.

“Personally, I’m in a slump,” said Guilderland senior Eileen Seery, who struck out in the fifth inning and in the seventh. “We all could have hit the ball better, I think.”

Guilderland lost, 1 to 0, and its season is now over. “I’m in a slump, too,” added Seery’s senior teammate, Steph LeClair, who struck out three times. “It’s hard to tell why.”

However, the seniors made it clear that they didn’t feel like they let their Dutch softball team down.

“The energy was high,” Seery said. “You always get mad when you strike out, but we’re never going to stop cheering for our team.”

Angry or not, LeClair said, she and her teammates are always supportive.

There were no errors in last Friday’s game. Colonie and Guilderland each left six runners on base. The Raiders had six hits, and the Dutch had five. The difference maker was Annello, who hit a solo home run to dead centerfield on a pitch down the middle from Torie Rathwell.

“You can’t defend a home run,” Guilderland Head Coach Lou Marino said after the game. “We never gave up, but we got to push runs across when we have the chance.”

Alexa Watts led the third inning off for the Dutch with a double to left field, but Annello was able to get a pop out and two strikeouts. In the fourth, Rathwell hit a double off of the left field wall for Guilderland, but Annello closed the door with two consecutive strikeouts.

Watts singled for the Dutch in the fifth inning, but Annello also got three more strikeouts. Rathwell and Nicole Fyvie hit back-to-back singles in the sixth inning with two outs, but Madison Harrigan struck out after two hits that went foul.

Marino told The Enterprise that Guilderland, which had seven wins this season, had some trouble hitting good pitching. “We were clutch sometimes, and then not other times, but that’s not from a lack of trying,” he said. “They never quit, and that’s what I ask. They’re trying to hit the ball.”

The Dutch tried to simulate quality pitching in practice, Marino said, and the team also had the talents of star pitcher Rathwell — coaches from Union College and Utica College were scouting her out on Friday — but it’s just not the same as a game. “I can’t throw screw balls,” the coach added.

^{_{Dutch catcher Alexa Watts stands and looks to first base after catching a pitch last Friday during the Class AA quarterfinals at Colonie. Watts had a double and a single, but Guilderland was shut out. The Enterprise — Michael Koff}}

LeClair said that the quarterfinal loss to Colonie didn’t have much to do with the pitching of Annello, who looked crisp all day. “She hit her spots, I guess,” said LeClair.

“We were in the game,” Seery added. “It was close, and better than getting blown out.”

Guilderland and Colonie played twice previously. The Raiders won, 2 to 0, with Annello pitching the first time, and then the Dutch won, 10 to 0, facing a different pitcher the next time.

As competitive teams from a cutthroat Suburban Council, Colonie Head Coach Kevin Jette said that not much separated the two teams last Friday. “The kids believe that they can win despite the score or whatever inning it is,” he said. “That’s what it takes.”

Marino and Jette have something in common: They expect their players to show up and play hard. And that’s all they really ask.

“Anyway you look at it, a loss is a loss,” Marino said. “But we played well.”