When two titans meet, it’s sometimes labeled as the irresistible force meets the immovable object. Neither side will give much ground; neither side has many weaknesses, and neither side ever gives up.

There are the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, and now Yorktown vs. Hendrick Hudson.

Yorktown and Hen Hud, the defending Class AA and A champions respectively, squared off in a League II-A battle for supremacy with both squads winning at their home field. The Huskers won on Friday, 4-2, while the Sailors prevailed on April 30, 6-2.

Huskers senior Kasey O’Connor enjoys the atmosphere of playing a top team like Hen Hud.

“I personally love games like these just because I love the competition,” she said. “I think there’s mutual respect. We know that they’re really good. They know that we can play too. I think games like this are why we play.”

After being held to only two hits by Sailors (8-3) senior windmiller Niki Tamburri in the first game of the series, the Huskers (7-2) came alive in the second game behind a brilliant pitching performance from senior Dana Bisaccia.

Bisaccia tossed a five hitter and struck out nine Sailors batters, which is no easy task as Hen Hud poses a rather potent offensive attack.

“She just pitched amazing,” O’Connor, who had a fourth inning RBI single said. “She’s just focused and in the game at all times. I think it really gave our defense the confidence we needed and it showed.”

Bisaccia got out of a sixth inning jam where the Sailors rallied with RBIs from junior Fran Kiernan and freshman Rachel Buckner to tie the game up at 2-2.
“We started hitting her at the end, but at the beginning it took time to adjust to her,” Hen Hud Coach John Glashoff said. “She pitched a very nice game.”
Yorktown Coach Becky Melikian came out to the mound and Bisaccia responded with a strikeout of Maggie Cole to get out of the inning.
“I went out there and brought them together and [Dana] really didn’t seem that nervous to me,” Melikian said. “She was confident she could get out of it and I was confident we would get out of it too.”

The Huskers used some deception to regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth. After junior catcher Tori Matzura singled and reached second on a foul out, senior third baseman Danielle Montesano singled as well. Matzura was held at third, but Montesano drifted off first base to get into a rundown. The ball was thrown away and Matzura scored to give the Huskers a 3-2 lead. Senior Larissa Porcelli added an RBI single to give the Huskers more insurance.
“We don’t give up,” Melikian said. “We play innings one through seven. I don’t care what the score is. We lost on our field last week (against R.C. Ketcham) and we said we’re not going to let that happen again.”

Aggressive base running is something that the Huskers pride themselves on. In the bottom of the fourth, Yorktown executed the same first and third rundown play with O’Connor scoring to put them up 2-0.

“I always tell the girls to be aggressive on the bases and I didn’t even have to tell them to go,” Melikian said. “They just have that sense.”
The Huskers defense was virtually flawless, highlighted by a remarkable play in the fourth inning by Montesano at third as she snagged a blistering line drive off the bat of senior catcher Kirby Wright and doubled Kiernan off first.
O’Connor felt that playing as a team was the difference between the first game they played with the Sailors in comparison to Friday’s game.
“Our defense just really stuck together,” O’Connor said. “We knew that wherever it was hit we would make the play. We just had so much confidence today and I think that was probably the biggest part.”

Tamburri struck out seven betters and allowed seven hits. Two days prior she two-hit the Huskers and struck out seven. Tamburri, a two-time state champion in volleyball and dominant setter, has a will to win in whatever sport she participates in.
“She’s a competitor,” Glashoff said. “She’s fearless. She wants to win.”
Melikian said the team took a different approach at the plate against Tamburri the second time around.

“I told them to be more aggressive at bat,” Melikian said. “They seemed to be a little timid last game and they just capitalized on it.”
Melikian enjoyed the experience of playing the defending Class A champs and was pleased to see the Huskers rebound from their two game losing streak.
“It’s always nice to play tougher teams and Hen Hud is definitely up there,” Melikian said. “It’s good practice for the post-season. We learned some lessons from the two losses and are now determined not to let the same mistakes happen again.”
Glashoff was pleased with the effort and said playing an elite team like Yorktown will only pay dividends down the road for the Sailors.

“We didn’t give up after being down 2-0 so even though we lost the game it’s a good loss because we know we can compete with the best,” Glashoff said.
In the win on April 30, the Sailors received RBIs from Tamburri, Wright, Buckner, and senior shortstop Heather Clausen.

Huskers give back
The Huskers donated $300 to team Shannon for the Stay-Awake-A-Thon that was held at Hen Hud May 3. The team is named after Hen Hud’s Shannon Callagy, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

“We are very grateful for their (Huskers) donation,” said senior shortstop Heather Clausen, who has been the ringleader behind the Sailors’ fund-raising efforts.

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