As Canastota’s softball team waited for the rains to stop and the fields to dry a bit, the first state Class B rankings were released – and the Raiders were no. 10.
Now it had to back up that high status – and Canastota did so when, in its return on Friday, it got on the board quickly, then got away late to beat Westmoreland 9-1.
Two quick runs in the top of the first sent the Raiders on its way, but the bigger blow came in the fifth, when Canastota, now up 3-0, managed five more runs, most of them coming home on Sam McCarthy’s two-run single and Jessica Patterelli’s two-run triple.
Overall, McCarthy went four-for-four and scored three runs, with Patterelli adding a double to that triple, plus two walks. On the way to a complete-game effort, Patterelli gave up just four hits and finished with seven strikeouts without a walk.
This moved the Raiders to 7-0 – a mark Canastota’s baseball team could not match, but it still put together an exciting 11-10 win over Westmoreland.
Seven runs in the first two innings appeared to put the Raiders in a good position, but an 8-2 lead vanished as the Bulldogs scored twice in the third and five more times in the fourth to roar ahead, aided by 11 walks issued by Canastota pitchers.
Now trailing 10-8, the Raiders were three outs from defeat when, in the seventh, it used back-to-back walks to Kyle Sandford and An Sgarlata to ignited a three-run rally. Rich Mitchell’s RBI single made it 10-10, and after a stolen base he raced home with the go-ahead run when Alex Foster doubled.
Still, the Raiders had to get the last three outs – and Jeff Merrell did so, finishing his long stint in relief of Foster and earning the win. A day later, Canastota lost to Tri-Valley League power Holland Patent 6-5 in non-league action.
