Even though rain tried to get in the way again, the East Syracuse-Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt softball teams did manage to finish their Friday meeting.
And this time around, the Spartans proved to be the top team in the neighborhood, jumping out early and hanging on to beat the Red Rams 4-2.
ESM’s patience at the plate mattered in the bottom of the first inning after J-D poked in a run in the top of that frame.
Both Nalin Bennett and Lauren Daly coaxed walks off of Caitlin Tessier to get it going, and after a sacrifice, Jen Lee singled to drive Bennett and Daly home. It would get to 3-1 when, with Lee on third base, Tessier threw a wild pitch, allowing Lee to cross home plate.
For the most part, Daly would shut J-D down from there, holding the Rams to six hits. Remarkaly, ESM got just three hits off Tessier, yet tacked on a sixth-inning insurance run (driven in By Chelsea Casciano) after J-D closed within 3-2.
Prior to this, both the Red Rams and Spartans had absorbed painful one-run defeats on the same day.
J-D met Fulton last Monday, falling 4-3 in 10 innings. Neither side scored until a sixth-inning exchange of runs, and that 1-1 tie held up for a while.
Both pitchers were superb. Tessier accumulated 12 strikeouts, but Fulton hurler Jessica Palmitesso was even better, fanning 19 J-D batters.
In the top of the 10th, with the courtesy runner in play, J-D put up two runs, only to see Fulton respond with three runs in the bottom of the 10th, with Palmitesso’s triple the key blow in the rally. In defeat, Leah Porter and Megan Maycumber each drove in runs.
As this was going on, ESM was at Mexico’s brand-new campus field, absorbing a 6-5 loss to the Purple Tigers.
The Spartans used a three-run fourth inning to go in front. Mexico, down 3-1, rallied to go up 5-3, only to see ESM tie it in the top of the seventh before a wild pitch allowed the Tigers’ Chelsea Giovo to race home with the winning run.
Lauren Daly pitched the whole way and took the loss. Nalin Bennett doubled twice and Daly finished with two RBIs and Chelsea Casciano also driving in a ru In defeat, Leah Porter and Megan Maycumber each drove in runs.
Coming right back on Wednesday afternoon, the Spartans ignored the rain and put together a 7-1 victory over Fulton.
Three-run outbursts in the fourth and seventh inning provided the basis for the win, as Daly allowed six hits in her complete-game effort. ESM had just five hits, but that included doubles by Bennett and Casciano.
ESM couldn’t sustain that momentum, though, taking a 4-1 loss to Phoenix on Thursday afternoon.
Jenna Rossi’s three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning made the difference as the Spartans got just three hits off Phoenix pitcher Jill Murphy.
Of course, ESM quickly got cured against J-D, improving to 4-2 in league play, 7-5 overall. It meets Chittenango, Cortland and Homer this week, as the Red Rams also had a Cortland date, plus Mexico and Fulton, before a Saturday date with CBA.
