When the Cicero-North Syracuse softball team defeated all five of its opponents at a tournament in Tennessee in the first week of April, it sent a clear message of how difficult it would be for someone to beat them this spring.
But if that didn’t get through, then the Northstars offered another example in last Wednesday’s Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division opener at Baldwinsville, where it took down the Bees 17-0 in five innings.
C-NS got to Bees pitcher Kayla Young for five runs in the top of the third inning, but went even further by recording a 10-run third inning on the way, both rallies helped by B’ville making four total errors.
Brandi Feeney and Alana Harbaugh each finished with three hits, while Ally Ciafratta, Francesca LaRobardiere and Brooke Nicolaos had three RBIs apiece. Adriana Houston drove in a pair of runs.
Ariana Corasaniti, who doubled and had an RBI, pitched all five innings and kept B’ville off the board despite allowing four hits, with Young, Emma Johnson and Jordan Martin earning those hits for the Bees.
A day later, Liverpool began a new era for its program as it traveled to Onondaga Community College and won its season opener, a 7-3 decision over East Syracuse Minoa.
After the retirement of long-time coach Nick Spataro, the Warriors tapped Nicole Lindley to take over, and she had plenty of new faces in the starting lineup to go with returning stars like Alicia Nash and Olivia Hayden.
Against ESM (coached by former C-NS great Lucia Meola), Liverpool broke out of a 1-1 tie with a run in the bottom of the fourth, and then got away with two runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth.
The Warriors’ nine hits were evenly distributed among eight players, with only Cassie Wiggins getting two hits as she, along with Nash, Sarah Miles, Julia Wike and Makayla Sweeting, had one RBI apiece.
And it was Wiggins, taking over the pitching duties, who earned the victory, overcoming five hits and six walks by recording eight strikeouts.
C-NS is staying in town this week for games against Webster Schroeder and Fayetteville-Manlius before a weekend tournament at Ballston Spa as Liverpool and B’ville head to Myrtle Beach for a full week of tournament action.
