Champions!

LAKE KATRINE-The last time Chester won a Section 9 softball title Tara Fogarty was in first grade. Eight years later, Fogarty stands as the winning pitcher for the Hambletonians in the Section 9 Class C Softball Championship game as Chester eliminated top-seeded Rhinebeck 2-1 on May 29. Chester could only scrape three hits off Rhinebeck lefty Alana Woody who fanned 11 Hambletonians. The big blow came from senior Tonya Hipsman. Leading off the third inning, the left fielder roped a triple and scored shortly after on a wild pitch. The Hambletonians took advantage of shaky Rhinebeck defense in the sixth. Senior Kelly Schmidlein reached on an error, moved to second on a sacrifice, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on another Woody wild pitch. Carrying a 2-0 advantage into the bottom of the seventh inning, Fogarty ran into some trouble. Rhinebeck cut the score in half after Nellie Moore drove a run-scoring single to center. But with the tying run on first, Nicole Devins' looping liner was caught by Schmidlein at short stop to propel Chester into the state tournament. Section 9 Class C Softball Tournament scoreboard