The Newburgh Free Academy softball team got its season off to a good start,winning seven of its first nine games.

Things have quieted down as the Goldbacks have struggled offensively and continued to do so on Thursday afternoon in a 2-0 loss to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders at NFA North.

“We played a great game,” Newburgh coach Chris Leggett said. “We’re just struggling at the plate. We’re playing great games outside of Monday’s game (a 12-0 loss to Pine Bush), which we came out flat. But against the state champs, two times we’ve lost two-run games to them.”

The Goldbacks couldn’t solve a Monroe-Woodbury pitcher who struck out 11 batters in a complete game effort for the win. She allowed only three hits, a second-inning single by Melissa Schulze and two more in the fifth inning, the only inning in which the Goldbacks threatened to score.

The Crusaders, however, put up individual runs in the second and third innings.

They took the lead by taking advantage of poor Newburgh defense. With one out, Maddy Bendix reached on an error by Newburgh third basemen Taryn Judson, which left her at second base. She then came around to score after Emily O’Brien reached on an error by Newburgh shortstop Marissa Scarano.

The Crusaders added another run in the third when Gabby Schaeffer blasted a solo home run off the top of and over the left field fence.

Other than that, Alina Ferguson kept the Monroe-Woodbury offense quiet, allowing four hits, and struck out four. She also had to work around four walks.

“We were thinking we were not getting the inside strike,” Leggett said. “But that seemed to be where you had to pitch, and she stayed on that path. That’s what kept us in the game. Even in that last inning, trying to mow them down and give ourselves a chance, she did really well.”

The Goldbacks’ best chance to get even was in the fifth inning when Ryan Keller delivered a one-out single and then was sacrificed to second base by Samantha Williams. Then, Parker Mullarkey delivered a bullet up the middle that was knocked down by Schaeffer at shortstop.

Schaeffer couldn’t get Mullarkey at first base, but her dive saved a run.

“We haven’t had any breaks,” Leggett said. “So, we should be due in the next couple of games for some breaks. Hopefully the tide turns for us.”

Mullarkey stole second to bring the tying run to scoring position, but Liana Shaw struck out swinging to end the threat.

“Liana’s been an RBI machine this year,” Leggett said. “She just came up a little short right there.”

It was also Senior Day as the Goldbacks honored their lone senior, Marissa Scarano, who played her last home game on Friday against Rondout Valley. Scarano has been on the team since she was in seventh grade.

“She’s everything a coach could want in a player,” Leggett said. “She’s a hard worker. She leads by example. She always does everything that a coach could ask and is loved by her teammates.”

It was the Goldbacks’ seventh straight loss, leaving them needing to win each of their last two games to qualify for the Section 9 Class AA tournament, as they finished the season with a 1-5 record in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division I championship.

However, their sectional hopes were likely dashed on Friday when they suffered a 17-10 eight-inning loss to the Rondout Valley Ganders on Friday.

“We’re a young team figuring out a way to win. We jumped out early with a 7-2 record, but we knew the harder games were coming up, but to be in every game with this team that’s young, I like where we’re at right now for the future.”