In many ways, the Christian Brothers Academy softball team did what it needed to in last Tuesday’s game at Jamesville-DeWitt, pounding out 10 hits against Red Rams pitching ace Kerri Keeler.
But it was the other facets of the game, such as defense and baserunning, that doomed the Brothers, as mistakes there, and J-D’s innate ability to take advantage of them, led to the Rams prevailing by a 9-3 margin.
Both teams had stranded runners before the top of the third inning, when CBA broke through against Keeler with run-scoring singles from Jessica Valerino and Claire Pierret.
Yet here was where things started to unravel for the Brothers. With the bases loaded out, Allison Magnarelli flew out to center, but the runners took off, thinking there was two outs. The resulting confusion led to two players passing each other between second and third, automatically resulting in an out and a strange double play.
J-D got a run off CBA ace Jordan Sheridan in the bottom of the third, and then zoomed in front for good with four runs in the fourth. A couple of errors in the field prolonged the rally as Paige Sherling’s sinking line drive was not handled, scoring the go-ahead runs.
Another error led to one of two J-D runs in the fifth, and a passed ball plated another run in the sixth as the Rams scored twice more. Though CBA loaded the bases in both the sixth and seventh innings, it only managed a single tally as the Rams closed it out.
Erica Siegel went three-for-four for J-D. Maddy Devereaux had two hits and two RBis, while Robens, Sherling, Alexis Cantor and Ashley Thompson notched two hits apiece. CBA’s Annie Carhart managed a pair of hits, matching Valerino and Pierret.
Both sides would win on Thursday, J-D breaking out in a big way during an 18-2 romp over Fulton as CBA roared past Homer 9-2.
Even though Fulton carried a 4-1 record into this game with the Rams, it hardly mattered. In the bottom of the third, J-D erupted for nine runs, and followed that up with a seven-run fourth inning to make it 16-0.
Nine different Rams players drove in runs as part of a 20-hit attack. Robens, with three hits and four RBIs, led the way, while Devereaux had a single, double and three RBIs. Thompson and Erica Siegel each drove in two runs as Maggie Austin had three hits and four runs scored. Keeler (who pitched six innings and struck out eight) and Cantor also had three-hit outings.
CBA wasted little time jumping on Homer, scoring twice in the first inning and three times in the next two frames for an 8-0 lead, more than enough for Sheridan, who held the Trojans to three hits and struck out 10.
Valerino tore it up at the plate, going three-for-five, including a pair of doubles, and earning four RBIs. Magnareli added two hits and two RBis, with Sheridan and Ariana Cavallaro each driving in single runs.
In Saturday’s action, the Brothers went to Cortland, where it trailed late in the contest before some clutch production at the plate helped beat the Purple Tigers 5-4.
An early 2-0 lead vanished when Cortland got three runs off Sheridan in the bottom of the third, and added a run in the fifth. Now trailing 4-2, the Brothers used a run in the sixth to get close and, in the seventh, put across the tying and go-ahead runs.
Sheridan blanked the Purple Tigers in the bottom of the seventh and earned the win, adding 14 more strikeouts to her total as she held Cortland to five hits.
J-D, meanwhile, struggled in a 7-3 defeat to Rochester Mercy. It was close before Mercy, up 3-2, added three runs in the fifth, more than the Rams could overcome as Keeler gave up 10 hits.
