For the most part, the area’s high school softball teams escaped the opening phase of the Section III playoffs unscathed.
Bishop Ludden did more than that, though, as pitcher Korey Kibling threw a no-hitter in the Gaelic Knights’ 8-0 victory over Pulaski in Thursday’s Class C-1 quarterfinal.
Kibling was close to untouchable on this day. Of the 21 outs Blue Devils batters recorded, 16 of them were strikeouts, a futility partially brought about by desperation after what Ludden did early in the game.
The Gaelic Knights batted around in the bottom of the second inning, scoring six runs, and tacked on two more in the third to advance to Saturday’s C-1 semifinal against Thousand Islands.
To help her own cause, Korey Kibling singled, tripled and drove in two runs, while Kayla Kibling and Megan Curry both had a double and two RBIs. Lauren Roy added three hits and an RBI.
Up in Class B, Solvay and Marcellus earned a date with each other Saturday through opening-round wins as the no. 2 seed Bearcats dismissed no. 15 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 9-1 and the no. 7 seed Mustangs eliminated no. 10 seed Clinton 5-0.
However, Westhill, the no. 8 seed in Class B, did not make it out of the opening round, falling 4-2 to no. 9 seed South Jefferson.
Solvay actually fell behind, 1-0, in the first inning to VVS, but that didn’t last as the Bearcats scored three times in the bottom of the first and tacked on five more runs in the third and fourth innings to get away.
Chelsie Delperuto smacked a home run and earned three RBIs. Nicole Antonacci went three-for-four, scoring a pair of runs as Nicole Groth tripled and earned two RBIs. Jackie Gardner also drove in a run as she pitched a complete game, holding the Red Devils to four hits.
Marcellus, meanwhile, had to be more patient against Clinton, working through a 0-0 deadlock until the bottom of the fourth, when it got to Warriors pitcher Mariah Gibson for three runs to move ahead for good.
Clare Manahan earned two RBIs as Meghan Witkowski tripled and drove in a run, and Angela Gonnella added an RBI. Molly MacLachlan pitched one of her best games of the season, striking out seven and holding Clinton to three hits.
That wasn’t the only local shutout. West Genesee, the no. 6 seed in Class AA, went to no. 3 seed Auburn and surprised the Maroons 4-0, avenging a 10-3 defeat from back in April.
Wildcats pitcher Morgan Nichols never let Auburn build any sort of rally, limiting them to seven hits, not allowing a walk and earning four strikeouts.
Though Maroons ace Ali VanGiesen accmulated 11 K’s, WG got to her for three pivotal runs in the top of the third. Tess Andrews drove one home with a single, and Meaghan Polge’s two-run single made it 3-0.
Katie Regin added an RBI double in the sixth, and Nichols did the rest, moving WG within a game of returning to the sectional finals, where it lost to Cicero-North Syracuse a year ago.
Westhill, the no. 8 seed in Class B, hoped to advance, too, but got into quick trouble against no. 9 seed South Jefferson when the Spartans scored twice in the top of the first inning.
Another run followed in the third, and after the Warriors cut it to 3-1, South Jefferson got a crucial run in the fifth on Jackie Decker’s squeeze bunt that scored Amanda Roberts.
Five different Spartans managed two hits off Westhill pitcher Kelly Mascari, while Spartans ace Brooke LaLone overcame Mascari’s three-for-three-day at the plate by striking out six.
The Warriors lost despite two hits apiece from Carrie Griffo, Erica Lobello and Mackenzie Davis, and closed its season with a 13-8 mark.
