While a third straight Section III Class AA title was a fine accomplishment, the Cicero-North Syracuse softball team wanted far more in 2019, and at the very least has made it to the state final four.
The Northstars got there with a tough 6-4 victory over Section II champion Colonie in Friday’s Class AA regional final at Carrier Park, on the same diamond where it had beaten Baldwinsville for the sectional title earlier in the week.
A combination of big hits in the early going, two timely bunts in the fifth inning and fine pitching from Arianna Corasaniti in the late stages pushed C-NS a step closer to the sixth state title in program history.
Each of the previous two years, the Northstars had lost in the regional round – to Shaker in 2017, and then to Ballston Spa in 2018. Now it faced a Colonie side that had scored 17 runs in its sectional finals win over Bethlehem.
The Garnet Raiders put immediate pressure on Corasaniti by loading the bases in the top of the first inning with no out, but with a grounder, strikeout and infield pop fly, Corasaniti worked out of it.
Then Alayna Harbaugh tripled in the bottom of the first and scored on Brandi Feeney’s single, but C-NS’s 1-0 lead didn’t last as Colonie tagged Corasaniti for five hits in the top of the second, which led to four runs.
It was important for the Northstars to quickly answer, which it did in the bottom of the second by loading the bases before no. 9 hitter Jenna Imbesi delivered a run-scoring single. Two batters later, Harbaugh singled, and the tying runs raced home.
So it was 4-4 going to the third, and only here did the teams settle down, Corasaniti and Garnet Raiders counterpart Carly Gemmett working through scoreless frames in the third and fourth innings.
Gemmett retired eight in a row before C-NS came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth. Harbaugh drew a walk and Feeney doubled her to third. Then a flash of the old-school methods the Northstars used so many times in years past resurfaced.
With Colonie perhaps expecting C-NS’s no. 4 and 5 hitters, Brooke Nicolaos and Ally Cifaratta, to hit away, both of them instead lay down consecutive squeeze bunts, which succeeded in bringing Harbaugh and Feeney home.
Now given a two-run edge, Corasaniti closed it out, blanking Colonie the last five innings overall and only allowing one hit following the seven the Garnet Raiders picked up in the first two innings.
C-NS is off to Moreau Recreation Park in South Glens Falls, where next Saturday at 11:30 a.m. it faces Victor (Section V) in the state semifinals – the same Blue Devils team that beat the Northstars 4-2 late in May. The winner plays Corning (Section IV) or East Meadow (Section VIII) in the 4 p.m. state championship game.
