VOORHEESVILLE — The has put itself in a tough spot as the season winds down.

The Lady Blackbirds have an overall record of 7-11 but are 4-10 in the Colonial Council and will be fighting in their final four games to clinch a spot in the Class B Section II tournament.
"We have four league games and we have to win them all for a chance to make the sectionals," said Voorheesville Coach Matt Fiato.

The Blackbirds have games remaining with Cohoes on Thursday, at Cobleskill on Friday, and they have to make up a game with Holy Names on either Saturday or Monday. The Birds played Ravena on Wednesday.

The seedings for the softball tournament will be released on Tuesday.

The Blackbirds have had better luck in non-league games. Voorheesville won the championship in the Albany Tournament on May 6. The Blackbirds beat Burnt Hills, a larger school from the Suburban Council, 8-2, in 11 innings and then beat Albany, 6-5, to win the championship.

Explosion

The game was tied, 2-2, going into extra innings and neither team could score until Voorheesville exploded for six in the 11th, the fourth extra frame.

The Blackbirds had four hits and took advantage of three Burnt Hills’ errors in the stanza. The big hit of the inning was a three-run triple by Jenna Massaroni.

Sarah LaFave pitched well for the Blackbirds. She struck out 10 batters and the two runs scored by the Spartans were unearned.

Massaroni was the big hitter in the championship game. She had a double and triple to lead the Blackbirds.

Brittney Wineinger added three singles for Voorheesville. Rebekah Coons hit a single and double and drove in two runs for the Birds.

The Birds thwarted a late Albany rally.

The Falcons loaded the bases in the seventh inning. Albany then scored one run on a fielder’s choice with no outs.

Then the next Albany batter hit a line drive that was caught by Voorheesville shortstop Brittany Vogel. Vogel was then able to get the runner out at third base for a double play.

The next batter hit the ball to right field but Wineinger threw out the runner at first base to end the game.
"That was the best we played all year," Fiato said of the tournament. "It showed what we are capable of. For some reason, we have not played that good against league teams. But our league has tough competition."

"Good games"

The Blackbirds then dropped games to Mechanicville, 6-0, and Broadalbin-Perth, 2-0.
"They were good games," Fiato said. "We battled back-and-forth. We had a chance to win them. We couldn’t make plays at the right time and we didn’t get timely hitting."

The Birds also lost to Holy Names, 2-1, after a late comeback attempt was thwarted.

Voorheesville beat Watervliet, 17-0, last Wednesday to get their fourth league win. The Birds have not played a game since, due to rain.

So the Birds are looking at playing four games in a row if the Holy Names game is rescheduled for Saturday.

And with the competition in the league so tough, it makes for a daunting task for the Blackbirds.
"Every game we played in the league is a fight to win," Fiato said. "There are really good teams. If you look at the size of schools, this is one of the toughest leagues."