When the first state Class B softball rankings came out, Solvay, the defending sectional champions, stood at no. 4, but faced a big challenge last Monday when it visited no. 12-ranked Altmar-Parish-Williamstown.
With a combination of strong pitching and clutch hits from Jackie Gardner, the Bearcats pulled through, earning a 5-1 victory over the Rebels.
Neither team could get on the board until the top of the third inning, when Solvay got to APW ace Amber Rice with three runs. An inning later, the Bearcats scored twice to answer the Rebels’ lone tally in the bottom of the third.
Gardner led the way with a double, two singles and three RBIs to go with her stellar pitching. Brandi Pidkaminy added a solo home run, one of her three hits, and scored twice, while Sydney Cimini managed a pair of doubles.
Westhill, who has the no. 10 spot in the state rankings, went to Skaneateles last Monday afternoon and blanked the Lakers 14-0. A five-run second inning put the Warriors in control, and it added five more runs in the next two innings to reach double digits.
Leah Diefendorf led the way, hitting a home run, double and single, scoring three times and finishing with a career-best six RBIs. Claire Hewitt, with two hits and two RBIs, helped out as Katie Lobello, Nina Scramale and Jordan Tucker each drove in one run. Scramale also pitched the seventh inning in relief after Melissa Newcomb tossed six shutout innings, striking out seven.
And when the rains finally let up on Friday, Westhill unloaded on Hannibal in a 30-1 romp, the carnage including five runs in the second and fourth innings, six runs in the sixth and, at its peak, a 10-run outburst in the top of the fifth.
Staying red-hot, Hewitt went five-for-five and produced six RBIs. Maggie Liberati’s two doubles led to four RBIs and five runs scored, while Newcomb also drove in four runs. Tucker, Claire Diefendorf and Xiamarra Rodriguez had three RBIs apiece, with Katie Lobello scoring six runs as she and Scramale both earned a pair of RBIs.
Marcellus, returning from its spring-break trip to Myrtle Beach, had an impressive showing in last Monday’s game at Jordan-Elbridge, defeating the Eagles 8-1.
A pair of second-inning runs got the Mustangs in front, but it put the game away with three-run outbursts in the fourth and fifth innings off J-E pitcher Alexis Rouse.
Rylie Spicer led Marcellus with three hits and an RBI as Jennie Delia, Jayme Lema and Dominique Weeks each drove in two runs, with Weeks scoring twice. Bethanie Emerick drove in J-E’s lone run in the fourth inning, but Molly MacLachlan held the Eagles to four hits in her complete-game effort.
Rain wiped out games on Tuesday and Wednesday, but action resumed on Thursday afternoon for Bishop Ludden, though it couldn’t get on the board in a 2-0 loss to Bishop Grimes.
For the most part, Cazzandra Griglock pitched well, striking out 13 Cobras and only allowing three hits. But Grimes poked across single runs in the second and third innings and Danielle Erwin made them count, limiting Ludden to five hits in her complete-game shutout.
Ludden lost on Friday to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, 10-1, the Rebels getting runs in five of the first six innings, capped by a five-run fifth. The Gaelic Knights’ lone tally came in the bottom of the sixth as it managed just three hits off APW pitchers Devin Jones and Amber Rice.
J-E, meanwhile, survived a wild game at Cazenovia, nearly blowing an eight-run lead, but still able to defeat the Lakers 9-6.
The Eagles scored twice in the first inning and five times in the top of the second. By the time they reached the bottom of the fourth, J-E enjoyed an 8-0 lead. Cassidy Fletcher, with two hits and three RBIs, led the way as Keelie Hotchkiss had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs.
Then the Lakers’ bats awakened. Katie Davis banged a two-run double that keyed a three-run rally in the fourth, and an inning later Cazenovia tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
