Going into the bottom of the seventh inning of Tuesday’s Section III Class A softball championship game, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team was on even terms with Oneida.
If that sounds familiar, well, it is.
That was the exact same scenario as the 2015 sectional final, one that Oneida would eventually claim by a 3-2 margin at Onondaga Community College, keeping the Red Rams hungry to reclaim the crown it held for so long.
But in this title-game rematch, the venue had shifted, to Cicero’s Gillette Road complex. And the result would change too, much to J-D’s delighth.
Instead of the Indians claiming a sectional three-peat, the Red Ramswon 6-5, when Makenzie Keeler singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth innings and J-D held on from there.
That it was so close was not just a coincidence when compared to 12 months ago. The entire sectional tournament had seen the Rams (against New Hartford and Whitesboro) and the Indians (against East Syracuse Minoa and Cortland) make narrow escapes.
So it only figured that the final would go back and forth, too. J-D made the initial move, using two hits and an error to produce a run in the top of the second inning as Oneida quickly replaced starting pitcher Kylie Chesebro with Kyra Sholtzhauer.
Rams starter Amanda Sumida, who escaped a bases-loaded first-inning jam, kept the Indians off the board until the bottom of the fourth, when Oneida scored twice to take its first lead, the go-ahead run coming home on Samantha Lusher’s single.
A wild fifth inning followed. With two out, J-D struck for a trio of clutch hits – one each by Sumida, Shayna Myshrall and Sarina Alexander – that produced three runs and a 4-2 lead for the Rams.
Hardly fazed by this, Oneida countered in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run uprising of its own. Lusher earned her second RBI, while Chesebro and Natalie Marshall also had run-scoring hits.
Now with a 5-4 lead, the Indians went back to Chesebro, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning, pushing J-D within three outs of elimination.
At the brink, though, J-D didn’t blink. Instead, in the top of the seventh Carly O’Hern, again proving her worth in a championship game, singled to lead off, and two Oneida errors allowed O’Hern to score the tying run.
Knowing what had happened a year ago, Sumida retired the Indians in order in the bottom of the seventh. Then, in the eighth, Paige Keeler reached scoring position, and Makenzie Keeler singled home her sister.
Given that one-run lead to protect, Sumida gave up a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth, but then set Oneida down in order. Despite allowing nine hits and three walks, Sumida’s tough complete-game effort resulted in a sectional title.
Now J-D will return to Gillette on Thursday to face Section X’s champion in the regional round. A win there would send the Rams to the regional final against Section II champion Troy.
