They held Senior Day festivities for the seven girls on the Solvay softball team mainly responsible for the program’s run of two consecutive Section III Class B championships and a trip to the 2014 state title game – but it was a sophomore who snatched the spotlight.
Lauren Nichols pitched the unbeaten, state no. 6-ranked Bearcats to a 3-0 victory over no. 19-ranked Altmar-Parish-Williamstown on Wednesday afternoon, limiting the Rebels to two hits while racking up 12 strikeouts.
Any game between Solvay and APW had inherent drama, given what had taken place the last two times they had met.
In last spring’s sectional Class B semifinal, the Bearcats escaped 2-1, and when they played again on April 30, Solvay trailed 3-1 with two out in the seventh inning, moved out in front, gave up the lead in the bottom of the seventh and required 10 innings to subdue the Rebels 7-4.
Now they were meeting again, but with a twist. Instead of Jackie Gardner in the pitcher’s circle, Solvay turned to Nichols, who had mowed down opponents all spring, but was unfamiliar to APW since they had hit against Gardner in those previous two classics.
Gardner, along with fellow seniors Nicole Antonacci, Chelsie Delperuto, Molly McGuire, Brandi Pidkaminy, Jordyn Everett, Kayla Emmi, received their pre-game accolades, and then the task of maintaining an unbeaten mark commenced.
Immediately, Nichols got tested in the top of the first as an infield hit, sacrifice bunt and groundout put a Rebels runner on third with two out, but she struck out Ellen Parker to end the threat.
Amber Rice, APW’s pitcher, matched Nichols through the first three innings, only surrendering a pair of walks, so it was still 0-0 going to the bottom of the fourth.
Then, with two out in the fourth, one fly ball tilted the game in Solvay’s favor. McGuire hit it, and it fell just inside the right-field line for a double.
Moments later, Gardner singled home McGuire, and before Rice could regroup, Nichols had crushed a triple to the right center-field gap, scoring Gardner and making it 2-0.
As Nichols continued to use her fastball to handcuff APW hitters, Everett singled to lead off the fifth. She moved around to third and, with two outs, trotted home on Pidkaminy’s single.
In no mood to recreate the tense finishes of their previous two encounters with the Rebels, the Bearcats watched Nichols finish off her complete-game shutout, overcoming Devin Jones’ leadoff double in the seventh to earn her fourth consecutive shutout.
