With most of its roster back from 2011, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team had nothing less than a Section III Class A championship in mind.
Now the Red Rams’ post-season quest begins. With a no. 3 seed in Class A, J-D hosts no. 6 seed New Hartford in the quarterfinal round, with the winner to get Phoenix or Chittenango in the semifinals.
J-D, off back-to-back defeats to East Syracuse-Minoa and Central Square, broke out of it in a big way last Monday when it went to Mexico and smothered the Tigers 22-2.
In all, the Red Rams produced 27 hits, culminating with a nine-run fourth inning and six-run outburst in the fifth inning.
Rachel Honis went five-for-five, scoring twice and earning five RBIs. Lateja Bryant hit a home run and double on her way to four RBIs, while Maggie Austin and Mary Young both had four hits and drove in three runs apiece.
It didn’t stop there, either, as Deb Toscano doubled, tripled and earned two RBIs, with Alexis Cantor also driving in two runs. Tessa Devereaux had three hits and scored a team-best four runs as Lexi Lerman scored three times.
The sequel on Wednesday went exactly the same, J-D rolling to a 16-1 win this time, though most of that damage came late as the Rams, ahead 3-1, got nine runs in the bottom of the fifth and four more runs in the sixth.
Eleven different players were responsible for the 17 hits, three of them from Young, who doubled twice and joined Austin, Tessa Devereaux and Alyssa Robens with two RBIs apiece. Austin also scored three times as Lerman gained two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.
This fast finish culminated with J-D putting away Cortland 17-0 on Saturday afternoon, breaking it open with a seven-run second inning in support of Keeler’s two-hit, 12-strikeout pitching effort.
Young and Toscano both ended up with three hits and four RBis, while Honis got three hits and drove in three runs. Bryant and Tessa Devereaux each had three runs scored and one RBI and Keeler also scored three times.
In baseball, J-D started the last week of the regular season by flattening Mexico 16-1. This was a steady effort as, starting in the second inning, the Red Rams scored at least two runs in five straight frames, capped by a five-run sixth.
Paul Fitzgibbons led the 21-hit attack, going four-for-four with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs. Matt Yonta and Cameron Naugle drove in two runs apiece as Dan Canfield went three-for-three with three runs scored. Chris Lenish added a pair of hits. Max Bregande, pitching a complete game, struck out seven and allowed just five hits.
Those two side met again a day later, and while J-D’s production was much more modest in the rematch, it still completed a sweep of Mexico with a 5-1 victory, scoring two runs in the first and fourth innings to seize control.
But the Red Rams were shut down Saturday in a 2-0 loss to Chittenango. The blazing-hot Bears used single runs in the first and fifth innings to pull it out as Wes Burghardt, with last-inning relief help from Greg Jasek, held J-D to four hits. Yonta took the loss.
J-D and Chittenango might not be done with each other. The Red Rams (13-7), as the no. 4 seed in the sectional Class A tournament, hosts no. 5 seed and defending champion Whitesboro in Thursday’s quarterfinals, while the no. 1 seed Bears get the survivor of Tuesday’s Oneida-Carthage game. Thus, J-D and Chittenango have a potential Saturday semifinal clash should they both win.
