In Sarah Tomlinson, the Skaneateles softball team possesses a pitcher that can carry her side to victories in a manner not seen in the program in years.
Tomlinson demonstrated this ability in last Monday’s game against Phoenix, where the Lakers, who had not yet played in 2014, shut down the Firebirds in a 5-1 decision.
For three innings, Tomlinson and Phoenix pitcher Megan Brown kept it 0-0, but the Firebirds got its lone run in the top of the fourth as Brown got a hit and came around to score.
Right away, the Lakers responded, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth and adding two more runs in the fifth inning, plus a single run in the sixth. Meanwhile, Tomlinson did not allow another hit, getting strong defense behind her in order to preserve the lead.
Skaneateles overcame Brown’s 17 strikeouts by taking full advantage of Phoenix’s six errors. Sarah Tomlinson managed a pair of hits, scored twice and earned an RBI, while Ali Tomlinson, Finan Malcolm and Morgan Dearcy also scored runs.
This followed the weather postponement of three different games – against Cazenovia, Hannibal and Jordan-Elbridge – and preceded more weather issues that halted things until the Lakers were able to play Tully on Thursday afternoon.
In complete contrast to the great pitching effort needed against Phoenix, the Lakers had to rely on its bats against Tully, prevailing in a wild 28-15 decision over the Black Knights. The show included Sarah Tomlinson hitting a pair of home runs and plenty of other offense, too, as Skaneateles won its second game in a row.
But that win streak came to an end on Friday during a 25-0 defeat to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown. The Rebels, already up 3-0, broke the game open with 10 runs in the second inning, and kept on going from there, hitting three home runs, two of them grand slams.
