CENTRAL NEW YORK – An exciting week of softball brought plenty of action for the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse as they both faced their neighbors from Baldwinsville and ended up with very different results.
In the Northsrars’ case, it involved rallying last Tuesday at the Gillette Road complex and, in eight innings, knocking off the Bees 3-2, the second time this spring C-NS has got the best of B’ville.
Having won 3-0 at B’ville in April, the Northstars leaned heavily on sophomore pitcher Kiyara Bentley, who went 7 1/3 innings and matched the effort of Bees ace Bella Hotchkiss.
Aubrey Coyle’s fourth-inning RBI single scored Sydney Puttkamer and put the Northstars up 1-0. There it stayed until the seventh, when B’ville tied it and then added a run in the top of the eighth for a 2-1 advantage.
Hotchkiss could not get the final three outs, though, allowing Sydney Rockwell and Eva Farone to reach base and Coyle double both of them home to win it. Bembry struck out nine before Lillian Hotaling earned the final two outs.
Two days later, it was Liverpool’s turn, the first time it had encountered B’ville since last spring’s Section III Class AA title game. Now, as then, it was the Bees getting the best of it, prevailing 6-1.
Mackenzie Frani’s RBI single gave the Warriors an early 1-0 advantage, but from there it could not get on the board against Hotchkiss, who got tremendous defense behind her which limited Liverpool to three hits overall.
After the Bees tied it 1-1 in the second, it stayed that way until the fifth, when a dropped fly ball led to a two-run rally, both of them scoring on Layla Trendowski’s bloop single.
Three insurance runs followed in the sixth, two of them getting home on run-scoring hits from Jenna Martin and Marissa McCloud, Frani having these late struggles despite accumulating 10 strikeouts.
Before this, Liverpool had to hold on to beat West Genesee 4-3, the second time this spring these two sides had engaged in a close one, the Warriors having prevailed 6-4 in Camillus back in mid-April.
A first-inning Liverpool run held up until WG tied it, 1-1, in the top of the fourth. It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when the Warriors solved Wildcats pitcher Maria Brandt for three runs.
Brooke Tyler’s clutch single drove home a pair of runs. Katia Flavin set the tone, going three-for-three and scoring twice. Joelle Wike added a single, double and RBI.
Still, WG made it interesting, scoring twice in the top of the sixth to move within a run, only to Frani get the final three outs to complete a game where she got 12 strikeouts against three hits and three walks allowed.
After the loss to B’ville, Liverpool got back in the win column on Saturday afternoon with a sweep of Section V foes, starting with an 8-2 win over Rush-Henrietta.
Lexi Goodfellow pitched and went all seven innings, holding the Royal Comets to six hits and earning six strikeouts. Still, Liverpool trailed 1-0 until it tied the game in the fourth and erupted with a six-run fifth inning.
Emily Nestor’s three-run home run was the big blow, with Frani adding a double, single and two RBIs. Wike and Luciana Deuel also drove in runs.
In the other game, the Warriors battled past Section V’s Webster Thomas in a 6-4 decision. Despite allowing single runs in each of the first four innings, Liverpool, with a run in the first and three runs in the second, were tied 4-4, where it stayed until a two-run rally in the seventh inning decided matters.
Frani not only pitched another complete game, she got three hits at the plate, all singles, and scored twice. Ava Falvo drove in two runs as Alexis Mathers doubled twice and joined Tyler and Nestor in the RBI column.
