By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Four seasons ago, Rush-Henrietta softball was a program looking to win its first sectional title.
Early Saturday evening, the Royal Comets celebrated back-to-back championships and their third overall.
R-H sent 11 to the plate in a seven-run third inning on the way to a 9-3 win over Fairport in the Section V Class AAA championship at Gates Chili High School.
“I am so beyond proud of them,” said first-year head coach Sydney Bolton. “It’s surreal. The kids worked so hard this week.”
Kendall Buttles struck out 11 and walked one in a complete-game effort to earn MVP honors. The ninth-grade right-hander allowed three runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk.
Delaney Buttles paced the offense going 3-for-5 including a two-run double in the decisive. The older sister (sophomore) also tripled and scored three runs in in the win.
Lizzie Rinella drew a walk to start the third and capped the frame with a two-run, two-bagger of her own.
Rinella holds the distinction of being the only individual to play on all three R-H softball championships.
“You know, it’s incredible,” she said. “It’s the best thing ever. I’m so honored to be a part of this program.”
“She’s just an excellent athlete and an excellent person all around,” Bolton said.
A left-fielder as a ninth-grader, Rinella played first base on last year’s championship team. After former All-County catcher, Elizabeth Gleghorn graduated, Rinella knew it was time for her to move behind the plate.
“I’ve been all over,” she said smiling. “I wanted to step up and be that general on the field. That’s what I want to do. I felt confident in everybody else’s abilities to play their positions, and I wanted to be at forefront of all that.”
Not too long after Bolton took over the program, she received a visit from Rinella.
“She came to my classroom at the beginning of the year when I got this job and asked me right away, what do I need to do to be a catcher on this team? What do I need to do to get myself behind the plate? I told her she just has to work hard, have a good attitude and be a good teammate. She’s done all of those things and she’s excelled on the field, both at the plate and like behind the plate.”
The distinctions might not stop with being the only player on all three championship teams over four years. Rinella is not only a catcher, but a left-handed catcher.
To understand the rarity of this, Benny DiStefano was the most recent left-hander to catch a game in Major League Baseball. That happened in 1989.
There are a variety of reasons southpaws don’t play catcher. Among them, lefties, in and of themselves are a rarity. A southpaw with a strong arm (needed to keep baserunners in check) will more than likely be used on the mound or in the circle.
Now Section V Softball and Baseball, for that matter, don’t have definitive records regarding lefty backstops (and shouldn’t be expected to maintain something of this manner). It goes without saying, though, that Lizzie Rinella is on a short list of left-handed catchers to lead a team to a sectional championship.
“I know how hard it is to find a glove,” Rinella said laughing. “You can buy them on regular websites, but a lot of them are really expensive, or you have to get a custom-made glove.”
R-H will play reigning state champion Lancaster (VI) in the NYSPHSAA Class AAA sub-regional on Wednesday. That game is scheduled a 7:30 PM first pitch at Churchville-Chili.
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