While no one could take away from all of the Cazenovia softball team’s accomplishments in 2019, it sure wanted a longer stay in the Section III Class B playoffs.
Instead, the no. 6 seed Lakers were upended in Tuesday’s opening round by no. 11 seed Jordan-Elbridge 2-0 at the Sean Googin Sports Complex.
It was a sudden ending at the expense of an Eagles side that was only 7-10 going into the sectional tournament and whom Cazenovia shut out 5-0 earlier in the month.
Elora Wilmot got the pitching nod for the Lakers, and for four innings she kept J-E quiet. Meanwhile, none of Cazenovia’s batters could do much against Eagles ace Alexis Delfavero, and it remained 0-0.
In the top of the fifth, J-E got to Wilmot, with Emma Morrell and McKayla Rohmer both reaching base and Delfavero, now doing damage at the plate, bringing them home with a single.
Wilmot, with late-inning relief help from Samantha Morgan, only gave up three hits and earned seven strikeouts, but her teammates could not answer that single J-E outburst.
Delfavero pulled off the complete-game shutout, only allowing a single and double to Morgan and a single by Hannah Matteson as she accumulated nine strikeouts.
J-E went on to the sectional quarterfinals, where it got overwhelmed by no. 3 seed Adirondack in a 14-3 defeat.
Cazenovia finished at 13-2, having won its first 10 games of the season and reached the state Class B rankings, too, but it never fully recovered from losing catcher Maddie Waite to a late-season injury.
Though Morgan, Matteson and Autumn Paddock will graduate, Wilmot, Maddie Waite, Mackenzie Waite and Kylie Fenton lead a solid returning cast for the Lakers in 2020.
