In every sort of manner, it turned out to be a happy Thursday for the Liverpool softball team, and it went well beyond the Warriors’ 5-0 victory over Fayetteville-Manlius in its regular-season home finale.
The first drama unfolded far from the diamond. Senior right fielder Sarah Tram, on crutches after a left knee injury suffered in a win over Baldwinsville a week earlier, went in for a medical scan to determine the extent of the damage.
Both Tram and her teammates feared a torn ACL – but it turned out to be a sprain, and there’s a chance Tran, who is going to LeMoyne College next year, could play again this season.
With that good news, everyone gathered on a sun-drenched afternoon for Senior Day festivities complete with flowers, balloons, picture collages and a post-game picnic.
Tram joined her six fellow seniors – Beth Lamison, Tiffany Sampere, Darci Muldoon, Emily Dumas, Abby Romano and Stephanie VanDusen – in being honored prior to the first pitch. Then the Warriors went to work.
Liverpool had only beaten F-M 1-0 in their first meeting April 12, stifled most of the way by Hornet pitching ace Amy Bright. On the second go-round, though, the Warriors would find more success.
Aided by two throwing errors, the Warriors loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second inning. VanDusen struck out – but the red-hot Romano pushed a two-run single through the middle, and the Warriors led 2-0.
So it stayed until the bottom of the fourth, when Lamison delivered yet another clutch hit as she sent a home run over the center-field fence. The Warriors tacked on two more runs in the sixth for good measure.
Sampere didn’t have many pitching crises in her two-hit shutout, getting exceptional defense behind her. Overall, Sampere finished with nine strikeouts, the last three in a row in the seventh to offer an ideal ending.
Three days before the rematch with F-M, the Warriors hosted Utica Proctor and got a solid, productive effort to beat the Raiders 9-4.
Liverpool bolted out to a 7-0 lead by the end of the third inning. Romano provided the power with a home run and double on her way to two RBIs, while Muldoon also drove in two runs. Nicole Ciricillo, Carrie Stoddard and Brianna Harris each drove in one run as Dumas earned two hits and eight different players scored.
With that big early lead, Sampere exited the pitcher’s circle after three innings and four strikeouts. Ashley Kovarik went the rest of the way and earned the win.
A day later, the Warriors made up a rained-out April 27 game with Rome Free Academy and emerged on top again, beating the Black Knights 7-4.
Sampere had a rare lapse in the second inning, RFA taking a 3-1 lead on Courtney Tasco’s three-run home run, one of just two Black Knights hits on the day. Even after Liverpool tied it 3-3, the Black Knights converted again in the third, leaving the Warriors behind 4-3.
Again, Liverpool kept its poise and, in the fifth, tied things up at 4-4 before it surged in front with a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth.
Romano hit her second home run in as many games, a two-run shot, as Muldoon added a pair of RBIs and Lamison also drove in a run while earning a pair of hits. Seven different players scored those seven runs as Sampere overcame six walks to strike out eight.
Liverpool is the top seed in the Class AA playoffs — and will have a rematch of some kind in the quarterfinals against no. 8 seed F-M or no. 9 seed RFA, looking to advance to the semifinals against West Genesee or Baldwinsville.
