The weather was cold and overcast, but the micro division players of the Albany Berkeley Girls Softball League were warmed up and ready to play the first game of their season. The Autumn Press Lightning Bolts hosted the San Marco Chocolate Chip Bunnies. Ivy Galanis of the Bunnies kicked things off with a base hit. Lightning Bolt Dillen Corlett answered the challenge with a line drive while Bunnies Elena Avila and Anisa Armistead-Brown wowed the crowd with fast footwork on the field. Bolt Lucy Mowry stopped a grounder at shortstop and sprinted to first base to tag the runner, the first of four similarly great plays. In the final inning, Chocolate Chip Bunny Olivia Monforte and Lightening Bolt Jordan Alonzo each slugged one down the 3rd base line.

Meanwhile, the Jane Hammond Events Chocolate Chip Bunnies were playing the Andronico’s Lightning Bolts. Along with great hitting all-around, Bunny Elle McDougald fielded a grounder and threw it to first base teammate Erin Shurtz, who made the great catch look easy. For the Bolts, Katie Dunkle tagged a runner running from first to second and Amari Coffey consistently fielded the ball like a pro from the pitcher’s mound. It’s going to be a great season!

Oakland Blizzard 8, Friedman-Brueggemeyer Pirates 4. In an exciting interleague game on a foggy, windy, cold afternoon, Rachel Burns started the scoring for the Pirates by advancing from third to home on a well-executed delayed double steal. Pirates Cristina McCue and Maria Price-Hanson added two more runs in the third inning on RBI's from Burns and Tamar Degen-Nosek. A Blizzard rally sparked by Marisella Ruiz' two-run single broke the game open in the sixth inning, and Blizzard pitcher Alex Holm slammed the door by striking out the Pirate side in the seventh. Pirate pitchers Price-Hanson and Sasha Kramer showed great promise in this early-season effort by combining for ten strikeouts.