Newburgh’s softball team hit the ball hard against Middletown Tuesday, May 21, but the Middies did also, coming after Karsen Leggett, the Goldbacks’ starter, with three straight singles to open the game, and one that drove in two runs.

The Goldbacks, the designated home team forced to play on the road because of poor conditions at their home field. cut the lead in the bottom of the first with Dafne Garcia’s RBI-single.

The Middies added runs in third and fifth as the Goldbacks mustered five hits in the 4-1 loss.

“They had the timely hits we didn’t get,” said Chris Leggett, Newburgh’s coach. “We had several chances with runners on base.”
The Goldbacks dropped to 7-11 and will end the spring without a playoff berth, but they have stayed in close games, ending in losses to Middletown and Kingston, both league rivals, as the season closed down this month.

“I expected us to be competitive. We started out with a rough patch. We were losing games pretty handily, sometimes getting mercy ruled,” said Leggett. “We settled in the last three weeks.”

The next day, in the season finale, Monroe-Woodbury shut down Newburgh season with a 7-0 victory, handing the Goldbacks their 12th loss of the spring.