Cazenovia’s softball team was all too glad to return to the grind of OHSL Liberty division play following a pair of defeats in Monday’s Fayetteville-Manlius Tournament.
In the first round, the Lakers went up against long-time Class A power Jamesville-DeWitt, and could not get the bats going in a 13-0 loss to the Red Rams.
Nicole White pitched, and kept the game close until the bottom of the fourth, when J-D put together a five-run rally, following it up with a four-run fifth inning. Cazenovia did not help itself on the field, committing six errors.
Meanwhile, at the plate the Lakers were shut down by Rams pitcher Kerri Keeler, who gave up just three hits, one single each to Rachel McLaughlin, Haley O’Brien and Katie Kempf.
Forced into the consolation game against host F-M, the Lakers led most of the way, but could not hold on to it, falling to the Hornets 2-1.
For five innings, Nicole Chiarello blanked F-M and held up a 1-0 lead gained when Cazenovia poked across a run in the top of the second, Holly Gamlen scoring.
Yet in the sixth, F-M tied the game, and would win it with another run in the bottom of the seventh. Just as with J-D, the Lakers’ bats struggled, only getting two hits (singles by Gamlen and McLaughlin) off Hornets pitcher Madeline Gerbig.
Cazenovia would get a week to regroup before league play begins again next Tuesday, at Westhill, followed by an April 20 visit from Hannibal.
