Another sparkling effort from a seventh-grade pitcher has the Hamilton softball team two wins away from a Section III Class D championship, while Canastota saw its Class B title reign come to a dramatic – and disappointing – end.
For Hamilton, Rebecca Rogers ignored the playoff pressure as she led the no. 3 seed Emerald Knights past no. 11 seed Alexandria Bay 6-2, setting up a Class D semifinal against no. 2 seed New York Mills this Wednesday.
Hamilton had reason to be wary about Alex Bay, since the Purple Ghosts had just stunned no. 6 seed Watertown IHC 5-2 in the opening round.
But these Ghosts would not haunt the Emerald Knights, who quickly got on the board with a run in the first inning, then settled in as Rogers blanked Alex Bay over the first five innings.
In the bottom of the fifth, Hamilton broke it open, nearly batting around as it plated five runs, three of them racing home on Jordan Peterson’s bases-clearing triple.
Now up 6-0, Rogers slipped a bit in the sixth, Alex Bay getting on the board with Mollee Millet’s two-run single. But that was all, as Rogers allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out 11 Purple Ghosts.
Canastota, meanwhile, was one hit away from beating South Jefferson in its Class B quarterfinal, but could not get that hit and lost to the Spartans 4-3.
With the no. 4 seed and home-field advantage against no. 5 seed South Jefferson, the Raiders appeared to be on its way when, in the bottom of the first, Jessica Patterelli smacked a two-run home run off Jena LaLone.
It remained 2-0 until the top of the fourth, when South Jefferson got payback against Patterelli. Danielle Bartlett hit a two-run home run as part of a three-run outburst, and when the Spartans scored again in the fifth, it led 5-2.
LaLone kept the Raiders in check with four strikeouts and was about to close things out when, in the bottom of the seventh, Canastota almost made a miraculous comeback.
Pecking away, the Raiders pulled within one on Kelsey Lawrence’s RBI single, and with two outs loaded the bases – with Patterelli, a dangerous hitter in any circumstance, at the plate.
A walk could tie it. A single would likely win it. And Patterelli made contact – but hit it to third and was retired, ending the game and the Raiders’ season with a mark of 14-4.