As they went to the last week of the regular season, the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa softball teams knew they would both make the post-season, but Christian Brothers Academy wasn’t as sure.
On Wednesday, J-D had a rematch with the same CBA side it shut out 4-0 five days earlier. Here, the Brothers got on the board, but the Red Rams were far more potent at the plate, not letting up until it had earned an 18-1 victory, its ninth in a row.
Amanda Sumida, perhaps settling in as J-D’s main pitching threat, held CBA to three hits, or the same total Sara Gow produced all by herself. Makenzie Keeler scored three runs as Sarina Alexander, Paige Sherling and Hannah Gunther each scored twice.
Back on Monday, J-D had a bit of a scare at Mexico, winning by a 10-3 margin that was only so lopsided because the Rams, clinging to a 4-3 lead, broke it open by batting around in the top of the seventh inning and scoring six runs.
Of J-D’s 13 hits, three were by Sherling, who scored three runs. Sumida and Shayna Myshrall led at the plate with two RBIs apiece. Keeler, Alexander and Julia Fairbanks drove in one run apiece.
Staying hot after the CBA romp, J-D earned 27 hits in a 21-2 Friday romp over Chittenango as Sherling went six-for-six, scoring five runs. Mysrhall was four-for-five as Carly O’hern’s three hits led to five RBIs. Sumida doubled twice and drove in three runs as Myshrall, Makenzie Keeler, Paige Keeler and Katie Tzivanis had two RBIs apiece.
CBA went into last Monday’s game at Homer with a 4-8 record, needing a spark – and got it, at least for one day, by beating the Trojans 9-3, a game where pitcher Julia Boule only allowed two hits, but didn’t get the lead until the Brothers broke out for five runs in the top of the fifth.
Helped by five Trojans errors, CBA still saw Boule help her own cause with a single, double and three RBIs. Catherine Burns and Tori Hall drove in two runs apiece, with Claire Pierret adding an RBI as Emily Hall drove in a run and matched Abigail Benware by scoring twice.
A day later, though, CBA lost to Central Square 18-4, unable to stop a Redhawks lineup that scored runs in every inning except the third as Chelsie Thomas got three hits and Courtney Horne scored four times. Bridget O’Hern still had three hits and an RBI, while Burns and Emily Hall got two hits apiece.
Then, following the loss to J-D, a painful 13-12 defeat to Syracuse saw CBA build up a 7-0 lead by the third inning and still have a 12-5 advantage going to the bottom of the fifth, yet surrender that edge when Syracuse scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings and get four runs in the seventh to pull it out, winning it on Tayah Tejera’s two-out double that scored Rachel Schmidt.
Much of CBA’s offense involved defensive mistakes from Syracuse, who committed eight errors. Still, O’Hern, who pitched for the Brothers, had a double and two RBIs, with Emily Hall getting four hits as she, along with Burns, Boule and Tori Hall, scored two runs apiece.
ESM made quite a start to its week, going to Chittenango last Monday and bashing the Bears 20-4, the onslaught including 19 hits from 11 different players as the Spartans also took full advantage of the nine errors Chittenango committed.
Five-run rallies in the second and third innings were followed by four-run outsburts in the fifth and sixth innings. Through it all, Aricia Williams picked up a team-best three hits, with Aubrey Williams getting three RBIs. Taylor Cassella had two hits and three runs scored as Courtney Burgun, Alissa Daly, Sam Short, Julia Jackson and Franchesca Polcaro each also had two-hit outings.
In a non-league game at Westhill a day later, ESM went in the other direction, falling to the Warriors 13-5 despite three hits from Burgun and two RBIs apiece from Jackson and Taylor Cassella. The Warriors’ Katie Lobello lit up Spartans pitching with her home run, two doubles, one single and four RBIs.
Things turned around again Wednesday afternoon, though ESM had to wait until the last possible moment to deliver the decisive blow in a 4-3 victory over the Cortland Purple Tigers in a dramatic Senior Night showdown.
Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Spartans trailed, 3-2, having scored twice in the fourth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit, one of them on Cassella’s triple, but then watching Cortland net two runs in the top of the sixth to reclaim the lead.
Short pitched well to keep the margin at one. Then, in the bottom of the seventh, ESM put two on with two outs, and Jackson came to the plate. The junior then struck her most important hit of the season, delivering a double to the gap, allowing the tying and winning runs to score.
On Friday, ESM went to Oswego and took a painful 8-7 defeat to the Buccaneers. The Spartans led, 6-0, through four innings, only to see Oswego storm back to tie it with five runs in the fifth and another run in the sixth. Despite a run in the top of the seventh, the Spartans could not hold on to its 7-6 edge, the Bucs getting the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the seventh.
All this happened despite Jackson’s home run, two doubles, two singles and three RBIs as Burgun drove in a pair of runs and Aubrey Williams scored twice. Mariah Galletta, with a home run and four RBIs, led Oswego’s rally.
