RKA softball triumphant in new division

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Samantha Torres and the rest of the Riverdale-Kingsbridge Tigers softball team had had enough of all the losing the past few seasons. With just eight victories in their last three seasons — coupled with 40 losses — a move to the Bronx ‘B’ Division from the ‘A’ level was just what the doctor ordered for the Tigers program.

And RKA has made the most of its new life in the ‘B’ Division by crushing nearly every team that gets in its way. With five of their six victories this season coming via one-sided slugfests — the latest being a 31-0 trouncing of Albert Tuitt Educational Campus — the Tigers have been tested just once this season and that came last week when they met Roosevelt at Riverdale Playground. The ensuing 6-4 victory was one Torres said she and the rest of the Tigers could learn more from than any of those lopsided affairs.

“I believe it’s a good thing to be pushed by the other team instead of expecting me to strike everyone out,” said Torres, who fanned 11 in the victory over Roosevelt. “It’s impossible for me to do that. I’m not perfect so I’m glad my team was alert when they started hitting off me a little bit in the last few innings. But I do like it when we’re pushed because it challenges my other players. I’m glad that they had my back. That’s what makes me comfortable on the mound, that if they wind up hitting off me or if I’m having a bad day my team is there to back me up.”

In the win over Roosevelt late last week, RKA held a 3-0 lead going into the fifth inning after an RBI single by Delilah Delgado in the first inning was followed by a sacrifice fly by Liandry Almote for a 2-0 lead after one inning. RKA bumped their lead to 3-0 in the third on an RBI triple by Torres and it appeared the Tigers would have smooth sailing to yet another win.

Roosevelt scored one in the fifth which RKA promptly answered with three runs of its own in its half of the inning with the big blow coming on a two-run triple by Torres for a 6-1 lead. Game over, right?

Instead, Roosevelt had one last rally in it and the Bears added three runs in the sixth to pull within two runs. But that would be as close as they would get to pulling off the upset.

So are close games a good thing for players to experience?

“It’s good when you’re on this side of the game, definitely,” RKA head coach Robert Dicanio said. “This was their first challenge and I addressed that with them and they responded really well. This is a funny game and you never know which end of the spectrum you’re going to be on. They could be one of those nail-biters or they could be a blowout. So I just told the team they need to stay in a straight level emotionally. They can’t get too high and they can’t get too low. You want to be steady and you want to play your game every single game, no matter what the situation.”

RKA upped his record to a perfect 6-0 after the thumping of Tuitt which now gives the Tigers just two fewer wins than it has had in the three previous seasons combined. But Dicanio still thinks his team is still in search of who it is.

“There’s still a lot of the season left and we’re still not 100% sure of the team’s identity but we’re making good progress,” Dicanio said. “Every single game anything that we did not do the previous game we correct in the next game and we keep building on that momentum and I couldn’t ask for more than that.”

It was quite a two-game performance for Torres, who followed up her 11-strikeout outing vs. Roosevelt with a five-hit, four-RBI game against Tuitt. Delgado had six RBI in the victory over Tuitt while Emely Mata added four and Laura Saer and Almote chipping in with three RBI apiece.

So how valuable is Torres to RKA’s fortunes this season?

“Did you see today’s game?” Dicanio said. “That’s a good indication of what she means to us. On the mound it speaks for itself with her performance but it’s also the leadership she has provided off the mound with the team. She’s been with the program now since her freshman year and you can see where she’s really developing into that role of not only an ace pitcher but as a leader and it’s fun to watch.”

All that losing that plagued her early career has been replaced by nothing but victories so far this season. And it’s given Torres and the Tigers reason to believe they can be one of the premier programs in the PSAL ‘B’ this season.

“I still believe we can play at a higher level in the ‘A’ Division,” Torres said. “It’s unfortunate we had to drop down to ‘B’ but it gives us an opportunity to have a run this year and that’s a great feeling because this is my last year. It makes you really happy that we’re going somewhere and it would be nice to take this all the way to the championship this year. I believe everybody on this team are hard-working people and we all want the same thing. We all want to play hard, play smart and win together. After the previous few years we’ve had enough. We’re hungry. I know that we’re going to make a good run.”

RKA, softball, Samantha Torres, Sean Brennan

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