Pecking away at the plate, and shining with its gloves in the field, the Oneida softball earned its second straight Section III Class A championship. The Indians put together 10 hits during Monday night’s 6-1 victory over Jamesville-DeWitt at the Gillette Road complex in Cicero, but didn’t take the lead for good until the late stages. J-D, just the no. 6 seed, had won five straight sectional titles from 2002 to ’06 and was attempting to reclaim its throne. It had upset no. 3 seed New Hartford and no. 2 seed Homer 4-3 to reach this point. And it threatened to go ahead early against Oneida, too, thanks to Mary Young’s leadoff triple in the bottom of the first inning. When Tessa Devereaux bunted, though, Morgan Murawski faked a throw to first, drawing Young off third – and Murawski whipped around, threw to third, and forced a rundown. As if that wasn’t enough, Shannon Dowling threw out Devereaux trying to steal second moments later. Having thwarted two possible J-D runs, Oneida inched ahead 1-0 in the third inning, Jamie Delgenio scoring after a single, stolen base and a misplay on Jenn Rougeux’s infield hit. J-D tied it, 1-1, in the fourth inning as Keeler escaped a bases-loaded jam, then watched Christina Oaster double and run home on Ashley Thompson singled. But the Indians went back in front for good in the top of the fifth. Rougeux again slapped a single, then came home on Jenna Didio’s triple. Erika Williams’ perfect bunt single allowed Didio to score, making it 3-1. Two more runs would follow in the top of the seventh, the margin doubling as Rougeux and Didio both scored again. All through the late innings, the Red Rams tried to answer, but Oneida pitcher Beth Rocco shut it down, giving up eight hits but striking out five. Without any time to rest, the Indians traveled east for Tuesday’s Class A regional against long-time Section II power South Glens Falls – and lost 5-0 to the Bulldogs at the Adirondack Sports Complex. Oneida managed just three hits off South Glens Falls pitcher Maddy Wheeler, constantly hitting grounders but not getting any breaks against the Bulldogs’ error-free defense. South Glens Falls took the lead wih two runs in the third inning (both coming home on Liz Baldwin’s double), then added a run in the fourth and two more runs in the sixth to get away. Four seniors – Rougeux, Morgan Murawski, Clare Henry and Brittany Inman – now depart, but a large returning cast in 2011 could mean a third straight sectional title.