Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Manhattanville softball team was swept by preseason favorite King's (Pa.) in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon at the Betzler Complex, falling by scores of 4-3 and 13-5 (5 inn.).
 
Sophomore Laura Montalto (Bronx, N.Y./Preston) had a great day offensively in a losing effort for Manhattanville (14-14, 5-5 Freedom), going 6 for 7 with a homer, four RBI and a run scored. Junior Kirsten Savage (Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) also had four hits and drove in two, while sophomore Rosaria Callara (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) went 5 for 9 at the plate with three runs scored.
 
Manhattanville fell behind by three runs after three innings in game one, and the team's late-game rally came up just short in a 4-3 loss to start the day. The Valiants had chances all game long, but left 14 runners on base in seven innings as the big hit eluded them throughout.
 
The Valiants struck first in the second inning, getting one run. Junior Alyssa Taylor (Craik, Sask./Craik) started the rally with a double and, after freshman Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) came on as a pinch-runner, Savage drove her home with a single through the left side. King's got that run back in the bottom of the second on an RBI grounder by Kayla Rutkoski, and the Lady Monarchs took advantage of two Valiant errors to score three more runs in the third to take the lead for the first time.
 
After the Valiants left the bases loaded in the fourth and stranded two more in the fifth, the visitors were able to get one run back in the sixth on an RBI single by Mulkerin. Manhattanville still had two on and none out in the inning, but Brittany Haight came on in relief of Karissa Kross and got three straight outs to limit the damage.
 
Manhattanville threatened again in its final at-bat, but again came up one big hit short. A single by Taylor and a Montalto double to start the inning seemed to set the Valiants up nicely with the tying run in scoring position, but a Savage one-out single only scored one run to make it 4-3. After a walk loaded the bases, Kross (who had re-entered after the Montalto double) got a fly out and a ground out to escape with the win.
 
Taylor (7-2) suffered the loss in the circle, allowing four runs (two earned) on only five hits in six innings. The senior also struck out five and walked three. Kross (5-1) essentially saved her own win, working around 12 hits to allow only two runs in six innings, while Haight was credited with one run allowed on two hits in one-plus innings.
 
The second game started well again for Manhattanville, but King's scored six runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back in a 13-5 game-two victory.
 
Montalto got things started just three batters into the game, scoring herself and Callara with a two-run homer. But those good feelings didn't last long, as the Lady Monarchs came back with six runs in the bottom half. Five of the first six batters of the inning reached against sophomore Kristen Rodopoulos (Scarsdale, N.Y./The Ursuline School) to quickly chase her from the game, but the big blow was a bases-clearing triple by Kowalski off of senior Katie Pitcher (Cold Spring, N.Y./Valley Central) to make it 6-2.
 
The Valiants got one back in the second again thanks to Montalto with an RBI single, but the home team responded with three runs in the second and four more in the third to blow the game open. Montalto and senior Jessica Van Galen (Bedford Hills, N.Y./Fox Lane) added RBI singles in the fourth inning, but that was all the Valiants could muster the rest of the way.
 
Rodopoulos (6-9) did not have a good day, allowing five runs on four hits in just one-third of an inning. Pitcher came on and allowed eight runs (six earned) over the next two frames, while sophomore Marissa DeGaetano (Yorktown, N.Y./Lakeland) closed out the contest with 1.2 scoreless and hitless innings.
 
Manhattanville will have a few days to rebound before a rare weekday Freedom Conference doubleheader on Tuesday, as the Valiants host Delaware Valley at Manhattanville Field for two games beginning at 3 p.m.