The Marlboro softball team made it all the way to the end, the last possible day to play a high school game in New York State.

After mounting a comeback on Friday, June 9, in the NYSPHSAA Class B semifinals, the Lady Dukes earned a dramatic 3-2 walk-off victory over Section 5’s Wellsville (21-2).

“I was shocked, excited, really just happy to be here and experience it,” said Marlboro’s Kalista Birkenstock, who scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. “I’m still in shock, speechless. We’re going to play in the state championship.”

Marlboro moved on to Saturday for the state championship game against Class B powerhouse, Section 2’s Ichabod Crane (23-1).

The championship game went into the third inning scoreless, but a pair of errors hurt Marlboro, as Ichabod Crane gained the lead.

Ichabod Crane went on to defeat Marlboro 7-1, winning the Class B state title for the second straight season.

“They’re a good team and I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Marlboro coach Ray Leduc said of Ichabod Crane. “They’re a great team and they won it last year, but we didn’t bring our best game today.”

The Lady Dukes went into the seventh inning trailing 7-0. While Birkenstock came in to score on a passed ball in the top half of the inning, Ichabod Crane was able to record the final out before Marlboro could get any more runs across.

“It’s really hard in the moment, but you just remind them that there’s only two teams left here playing,” Leduc said. “Sometimes, coming in second is harder than not making it at all. But when you give it some time and look back on it, they’ll be able to say, ‘it’s been a heck of a season.’ We haven’t experienced a loss since the third game of the season, so it’s been a great season.”

Lily Sullivan went 2 for 3 on Saturday, while Birkenstock, Ella Leduc, Emma Jackson and Kaitlyn Gordon each recorded a hit. Birkenstock also recorded a stolen base.

As a team, Marlboro (19-3) was charged with seven errors.

“I’d like to face them again when we bring our best game, to see where we stack up,” Leduc said of Ichabod Crane. “We had a couple too many errors today, but that’s just the way the game goes sometimes.”

Marlboro and Ichabod Crane (Valatie, NY) are about 70 miles apart, so a non-league or tournament game next season may not be out of the question.

The loss ended a stretch of 18 consecutive wins for Marlboro, which had not lost since April 6, a 2-0 score against Class AA’s Warwick.

Over the course of the season, Marlboro picked up impressive wins over Monroe-Woodbury (AA), Middletown (AA), Wallkill (A) and many others.

The Lady Dukes won a subregional contest against Section 1’s Rye Neck, walking off in the bottom of the 8th inning, 1-0. In that game, Ella Leduc drove in Birkenstock with a RBI single, sending Marlboro to the regional championship. Leah Gunsett tossed all eight innings, not allowing a run, while scattering four hits and one walk, with eight strikeouts.

Up against Section 8’s Seaford, Marlboro used a five-run sixth inning to earn a 5-0 win. Gunsett tossed another complete game shutout on four hits and one walk, striking out seven.

After making the trip to the eastern side of Long Island, to the Moriches Sports Complex, Marlboro found themselves trailing 2-0 early in the state semifinals against Wellsville.

The Lady Dukes got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, as a sacrifice fly from Gunsett scored Ella Leduc. In the sixth, a RBI single by Gordon allowed Leduc to score the tying run.

“We just kept grinding at-bat after at-bat,” said Ray Leduc. “We had a 1-0 eight inning game in the first step in the subregionals, then were 0-0 through five in the regional against Seaford. We’ve had some tough games, but that’s what all this is about. They stayed together, picked each other up and we’ve been doing that all year.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Birkenstock led off with a single, then stole second. Sullivan got down a bunt, sacrificing Brikenstock to third, but the throw went into right field, allowing the winning run to cross the plate.

“Lily’s been great at getting the bunt down all season,” said Birkenstock. “I just knew that this was her moment. I was confident that if I got to third, Ella would get me in, but then the ball went into the outfield.”

“So happy,” Ray Leduc said of advancing to the championship. “Last year we came here and lost in the first game. The goal was to make it one step further than we did last year, which we just accomplished. Now the goal is to win it all, but one step at a time.”

Gunsett threw all seven innings of the semifinal, allowing two runs on six hits, striking out seven.
Emma Jackson collected three hits in the semifinal, including a double. Birkenstock was 2 for 3 with a triple, walk and stolen base, while Leduc also had two hits.

In the championship game against Ichabod Crane, Gunsett tossed six innings in the loss. Of the seven runs, just three were earned. She allowed seven hits, while striking out five.

“They just played hard and they never gave up,” Ray Leduc said. “We start every year optimistic and we set our goals to get as far as we can. We start with sections and we progress. The future is definitely bright.”