As far as habits go, the East Syracuse-Minoa softball’s propensity to play close contests is getting pretty ingrained.
Five of the Spartans’ last six games have been decided by a single run, three of them in extra innings. And that included Monday’s come-from-behind, 6-5 victory over visiting Jamesville-DeWitt.
Down by four runs at point, ESM fought all the way back, pulling even 5-5, in the bottom of the seventh inning, and winning it when Rachael Gocklin’s single brought home Nikki Cassella.
They played in a drizzle that started just as the game was getting underway and did not let up. J-D was looking for a regular-season sweep, having beaten ESM 9-2 back on April 16.
Unlike that first meeting, Danielle Ventrone was pitching for the Spartans, and she kept it 0-0 until the top of the third.
J-D loaded the bases for Maggie Austin, who smashed a two-run single. Alexis Cantor reached on an error, which brought home two more runs and made it 4-0. All of this happened with two outs.
That looked more than enough for Red Rams ace Kerri Keeler, but it wasn’t. ESM scored twice in the bottom of the fourth to pull back to 4-2, and an exchange of runs followed, J-D expanding the margin to 5-2 in the fifth, the Spartans answering with a tally in the sixth.
J-D had a chance to pull away again in the seventh, but with two on and two out, it tried to score on an infield hit, only to get thrown out at home to end the threat.
Fired up, ESM got a walk and single in the bottom of the seventh. After Maggie Kelly grounded out and moved the runners to second and third, Danielle Hobb drove them home with a game-tying double.
Haley Wodarczyk, who already had a single and double, had a chance to win it, but she lined out to right, and Hobb got caught off the bag for a double play, meaning extra frames.
Ventrone eased through her part of the eighth, retiring J-D 1-2-3. Then, with two out in the bottom of the eighth, Cassella banged a double to the wall, her third hit of the game.
Gocklin then singled to right, and when the throw got bobbled near first base, Cassella raced home with the decisive run.
