With a charge down the stretch, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team threatened to snatch the OHSL Freedom division championship from its neighbors at East Syracuse-Minoa.

The key element in this charge was last Thursday’s showdown at Lyndon, where the Red Rams outlasted the Spartans 1-0.

Quickly, it became apparent that any run in this game would be precious. Trying to manufacture rallies, J-D and ESM both saw runners thrown out attempting to steal second base by catchers Leah Porter and Jamie Evans.

J-D senior Caitlin Tessier breezed along until the third inning, when Caitlin Smith singled. With two out and Smith on second base after a sacrifice bunt, the Rams chose to intentionally walk ESM star Nalin Bennett, a gamble that paid off when Lauren Daly flied out to end the inning.

Daly, in her mound stint, matched Tessier for a while. In the bottom of the fourth, J-D got a runner to second base with one out, but Daly struck out Megan Maycumber and coaxed Lauren Alciati to ground out, keeping it 0-0.

It remained that way until the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, a high throw by Bennett allowed Kelsie Deyo to reach first base.

That turned out to be huge, for it brought up Porter. The J-D slugger promptly sent a ball to the fence in right-center field, giving Deyo enough time to speed home with the game’s lone run.

Tessier made that run hold up, though she got a scare in the seventh inning. Back-to-back, two-out singles by Keri Fox and Jordan Kraushaar put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Smith looked at strike three to end the game.

Prior to this, the Spartans took care of one more small item, but needed yet another sixth-inning rally to beat Mexico 4-2.

Mexico earned both of its runs off Daly in the top of the fourth inning, as Sonia Vega’s two-run home run broke the 0-0 deadlock.

Meanwhile, ESM hitters had a difficult time dealing with Tiger pitcher Rachel Verdoliva, unable to produce anything for a while.

But in the sixth inning, the Spartans duplicated its Phoenix comeback from the week before, tagging Verdoliva for four runs to go in front.

Daly drove in one run, making it 2-1, and Jamie Evans’ two-run single put ESM in front before Smith added an insurance RBI.

J-D picked off a big opponent prior to the ESM game, earning a tough 2-1 victory over the Homer Trojans last Wednesday afternoon.

Aided by a cold wind that blew in the batters’ faces, Tessier limited Homer’s potent lineup to just two hits. Still, the Rams needed two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit, as Caitlin Titus was credited with an RBI.