A season ago, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team parlayed a Section III Class A title to a memorable state tournament run, all the way to the championship game.

This time around, though, Section II champion Troy made sure that the Red Rams didn’t get out of the regional round, riding hot bats and the strong pitching of eighth-grader Hunter Levesque to a 6-1 victory Monday afternoon at the Gillette Road complex in Cicero.

Not showing one trace of her youth, Levesque held J-D to two hits and got flawless defense behind her, something the Rams could not match.

“She (Hunter) moved the ball around and, defensively, they made all the plays,” said J-D head coach Phil DeAugustine. “We couldn’t string together any hits.”

Just two days had passed since J-D blanked Oneida 3-0 in the sectional Class A final, so there was little time to rest, regroup and prepare for a new opponent and a new pitcher.

Yet the Rams and Flying Horses shared a common bond – dramatic seventh-inning rallies for post-season wins over South Glens Falls. J-D had done it in the 2012 regional round, and Troy had come from behind to pull it off in the Section II final to reach this game.

Having never trailed in the post-season, J-D ace Kerri Keeler got into quick trouble in the top of the first. With two out, Kaitlin Designore singled, and Alina Germenerio tripled her home.

It was still 1-0 when the Flying Horses broke it open in the top of the third. Levesque and Kiley Tucker both singled, moved up a base on Keeler’s wild pitch, and streaked home on Designore’s two-run single. A botched rundown allowed Designore to score, and Victoria Hallet’s RBI single stretched Troy’s margin to 5-0.

J-D did get on the board in the bottom of the third, Paige Sherling beating out an infield hit and Maddy Devereaux drawing a walk before Maggie Austin’s soft liner tipped off Levesque’s glove, allowing Sherling to score.

Troy answered with a run in the fourth, and though Keeler shut down the Flying Horses the rest of the way and finished with 10 strikeouts, Levesque made sure J-D stayed quiet, allowing just one baserunner over her last four innings of work.

Disappointed as J-D was with the loss, it still had back-to-back sectional titles to boast about, and other than Maddy Devereaux and Ashley Thompson, everyone else, including Keeler, Austin, Sherling, Alyssa Robens, Erika Siegel, Carly O’Hern, Emily Clapper, Erin Reeves and Maddy Frank, returns for 2014 and another title push.

DeAugustine said his team had fun this season, and that the memories generated from their time together were just as important as any titles attained on the field.