Harrison Pitching Blanks Bobcats

Behind dominating pitching performances from Brie Arllotta and Julia Brefere, Harrison continued their fantastic start to the 2010 season with a 7 - 0 victory over the Byram Hills Bobcats Monday afternoon at the Harrison High School.

Arllotta was the game's starting pitcher and in the first inning she made it impossible for the ball to even get out of the infield. The first three outs of the game Arllotta was able to collect two ground balls and a strike out.

She was equally impressive for the rest of her four innings of work, collecting five strikeouts and giving up only one hit. Had it not been for a miscommunication early in the second inning that allowed a blooper to drop in for it a hit, it is probable that Arllotta would have had a no-hitter, or possibly even a perfect game. 

Not to be outdone by Arllotta, Brefere was equally spectacular. Brefere matched Arllotta's five strikeouts in only three innings. In the fifth inning, Brefere struck out the side with relative ease. The only blemish on the afternoon for the pitcher was a walk in the sixth inning. 

"Both girls did a great job for us pitching," said Harrison Head Coach Dean Marino. "They did exactly what we asked them to do, they got in there, threw strikes and they didn't walk anybody."

As good as the Huskies were on the mound, they were equally impressive in the field and on the base paths. As a team, the Huskies did not commit a single error during the course of the game and several members of the team stole bases and were able to capitalize on some of the mistakes made by Byram Hills.

Alex Scapperotti was one of the more impressive players on the bases. She came in to run for catcher Gigi LoDolce, as a courtesy runner, and made the most of her limited time. In the second inning while on first base she drew a wild throw from the Byram Hills catcher and was able to advance to second, later in the inning Scapperotti scored the game's first run.

"Scap's a great base runner," said Marino. "She did a good job, and Allyson Brabant did a great job for us on the bases today."

Brabant finished the day 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot and added two runs and two of the team's five stolen bases.

But it wasn't all bad news for the Bobcat's on Monday. The team has had issues with consistency over the course of the season and with starting pitcher Julie Constabile playing injured they had to rely heavily on their fielding.

Constabile battled through the course of the game and in 3 1/3 innings pitched she only gave up five earned runs to one of the more prolific hitting teams in the league.

"Julie hung in there today, she's in a lot of pain right now and for this type of level of a game and for all the pitches she did throw she definitely battled," said Byram Hills Head Coach Gina McKeon. "She wasn't thinking about herself and she put the team first. We definitely feel it was a moral victory for us."

Though Harrison won the game convincingly, the team did not hit as well as they have in the past.

"I really can't complain, but we just didn't focus as well as we normally do," Marino said. "I am frustrated with our offense, we swung at bad pitches and we refused to take walks. It creates bad habits and later in the season teams will make us pay for that."

The hits were scattered throughout the Harrison stat sheet and no one player really stood out. Senior Johanna Valentzas was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Catcher Gigi LoDolce was 2-for-2 with two walks.

Harrison is now 4-0 and Byram Hills is 2-3, the teams will square off again on Wednesday afternoon at Byram Hills at 4:30.