Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CLERMONT, Fla. – The Manhattanville softball team dropped a pair of games on its fourth day of competition at the NTC Spring Games on Tuesday, as the Valiants fell to the College of New Jersey, 11-2, and Saint Scholastica, 7-6, at the National Training Center.
 
In the first game of the day, Manhattanville scored the first run of the game but TCNJ followed with 11 of the final 12 runs to defeat the Valiants by an 11-2 score.
 
Seniors Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane) and Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central) accounted for all the Valiant offense in a losing effort, as both players went 2 for 2 and drove in a run. Sophomore Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) and freshman Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) scored the runs for the Valiants.
 
Manhattanville started the scoring in the first inning, as Callara led off the game with a walk, stole second base, and came around on a two-out double by Van Galen. After going down in order in the first, the Lions came back with two runs in the second inning to take the lead and added two more in the third and the fourth.
 
The Valiants got one of those runs back in the fourth inning, when Scapperotti pinch ran for Van Galen after a leadoff single and was sent home by an RBI single from Pitcher. However, TCNJ came back with five runs in the sixth inning to close out the game early.
 
Pitcher (1-2) had a tough day in the circle for the Valiants, allowing all 11 runs (10 earned) on 12 hits over 5.2 innings. TCNJ's Alex Carisone (2-0) picked up the win, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits over 4.2 frames.
 
The second game saw the Valiant offense provide a pair of three-run leads, but St. Scholastica came back each time to pull out the 7-6 come-from-behind victory.
 
Sophomore Laura Montalto (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) led Manhattanville offensively in this game, going 3 for 4 with a run scored and three RBI. Scapperotti and Callara both added two hits and a run scored as well.
 
As they have in almost every game this year, the Valiants started strong and jumped out to an early lead after one inning. Callara again got things started with a leadoff single, and after a Pitcher walk, Montalto drove both runners home with a two-out double. The lead grew to three in the third inning, when Montalto singled home senior Brianna Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison).
 
St. Scholastica came back with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the score, as Kasandra McCabe doubled to drive in one run and a Rendi Johnson triple plated two more Saints.
 
Then it was the Valiants' turn to respond again, putting a three-spot up in the top of the fifth to regain the lead. All three runs came with two down after a CSS error extended the inning, with the lone Valiant RBI of the frame coming off the bat of sophomore Arianna Martignetti (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle).
 
However, the lead disappeared just as soon as Manhattanville got back on the field, as St. Scholastica struck for four runs in the top of the sixth to go ahead for good. Four different Saints drove in a run in the inning, with pinch hitter Lexi Smith providing the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly.
 
Sophomore Kristen Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y./The Ursuline School) suffered the loss (1-3) for Manhattanville, allowing all seven runs on 10 hits in 5.2 innings before classmate Marissa DeGaetano (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) closed out the game with 1.2 scoreless frames. Johnson (1-1) earned the win for the Saints, allowing six runs (three earned) on 10 hits in seven innings.
 
Manhattanville (3-5) will close out its spring break trip tomorrow with two early morning contests, as the Valiants face Cornell (Iowa) at 9 a.m. and Monmouth (Ill.) at 11 a.m.