CENTRAL NEW YORK – If the Jordan-Elbridge softball team ever worried too much about taking its first loss of the season May 12 to Port Byron, it didn’t show as it won every game in the last week of the regular season.
By doing so, the Eagles earned the no. 1 seed in the Section III Class C playoffs and open play Tuesday against the winner of an opening-round game between no. 16 seed Beaver River and no. 17 seed Tully – but could meet Port Byron in the quarterfinals if the no. 8 seed Panthers get past Herkimer.
Right after that Port Byron defeat, the Eagles promptly beat the Panthers in a rematch 24 hours later and got another dominant performance last Monday as it blanked Phoenix 12-0.
Ava Hildebrant pitched four innings and did not allow a hit, Abby DelFavero only surrendering two hits but going three-for-four at the plate with an RBI.
In all, J-E pounded out 17 hits, two each by Hildebrant, Erin LaVancha, Heather Sorts, Neveah Foster, Cameron Fraher and Riley Hill, with Hildebrant and Hill each scoring twice.
Then the Eagles smashed past Bishop Grimes 27-2 a day later, peaking with a fourth inning where it batted around twice and amassed 15 runs.
Abby DelFavero’s three hits turned into five RBIs. Four others – Hill, Hildebrant, Fraher and LaVancha – drove in two runs apiece as Brooke Chiaramonte matched Hildebrant scoring four times.
J-E prevailed again on Friday, handling Weedsport 10-3. Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the second, the Eagles struck for four runs in that frame and scored in each of the next four innings, too, picking up 12 hits to move its overall record to 17-1.
West Genesee has gone through a season full of ups and downs, which resurfaced again last Monday when it took a 5-0 defeat to Rome Free Academy.
All the Wildcats could manage was five hits off RFA pitcher Madison Safin, who got all the runs she needed when the Black Knights scored three times in the bottom of the first, adding two runs in the third.
A 9-2 loss to Auburn followed a day later, WG shut out until Lexi Rydelek’s two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, by which time the Maroons had a 5-0 advantage that it added to with four runs in the seventh.
But WG responded on Thursday with an 8-4 win over Baldwinsville where it got out in front and then preserved it when, up 3-2, it erupted for five runs in the top of the seventh.
This time it was Emma Monaghan going deep for a home run, part of an attack where she, along with Anna Drogo and Alanna Bowman, got two RBIs apiece. Sophia VanHorn and Kyra Lynch each added two hits and an RBI.
Drawing the no. 5 seed in the sectional Class AA playoffs, WG has to beat no. 4 seed Auburn Thursday in the quarterfinals to earn a shot at top seed Liverpool in Saturday’s semifinal round.
Skaneateles found a lot of success at the plate in last Monday’s 20-5 win over Cazenovia, cruising to victory in this latest Laker duel with a power-packed lineup.
Lainey Lowe bashed a home run and triple, setting a career mark with five RBIs. Ayla Pas’cal went four-for-four as she and Katie Combs both drove in three runs and Ellie Walsh had two RBIs. Finn Pas’cal singled, doubled and tripled, only missing a home run for the cycle.
A day later, Skaneateles edged Phoenix 8-7, building a 7-0 advantage by the fourth inning but still needing a run in the fifth before fending off the Firebirds’ late charge.
Ayla Pas’cal doubled, tripled and scored three times. Walsh’s double led to three RBIs as Combs, Finn Pas’cal and Kelly Goldberger had one RBI apiece.
Skaneateles then took an 8-4 defeat to Hannibal on Thursday, a 2–0 lead vanishing when Hannibal netted six runs in the fourth inning. Lowe did give the Lakers a home run and two RBIs.
