Area high school softball has a slightly different look this spring.
Cazenovia, facing smaller numbers at all of its levels, curtailed its schedule, and then saw all of its early-season games postponed by bad weather or poor field conditions.
All of that changed on Friday afternoon, when the Lakers got underway, and put some runs on the board – but still took a 19-4 defeat to Westhill, who posted a run in each of the first six innings, capped by a six-run outburst in the top of the third.
McKenzie Giordano netted two of Cazenovia’s four hits. Samantha Morgan walked three times and delivered an RBI as Alexis Sherwood also drove in a run. Courtney Holt, Hannah Matteson, Laura Clements and Angela Combs scored one run apiece. Westhill’s Katie Lobello hit a home run, earned four other hits and finished with five RBIs.
And before the Lakers could take the field, Chittenango did so, looking forward to a full schedule – but getting humbled in last Wednesday’s season opener, falling to the Homer Trojans 16-1.
Homer leaned on three big rallies, scoring five times in the first inning and doing so again in the fourth before a six-run sixth inning. To break up the shutout, the Bears landed its lone run in the bottom of the fourth, when Sydney Bennett drove home Morgan Shoemaker.
Alexa Rossi pitched the entire game for Chittenango, managing four shutout frames in between Homer’s outbursts. Ashley Aloi led the Trojans, doubling twice and finishing with four RBIs.
Chittenango looked to turn around Friday against East Syracuse Minoa, now coached by former Cicero-North Syracuse and Cortland State standout Lucia Meola, but could not do so, taking a 9-2 defeat to the Spartans.
By the time the Bears got the board in the top of the sixth, it trailed, 7-0, with ESM putting up a run in the first four innings. Bennett had another RBI as Trisha Whaley and Shayla Muncy scored those Chittenango runs, Shannon Dablock and Franchesca Polcaro both had two RBIs on the Spartans’ side.
This brief skid ended in a big way on Saturday when the Bears pummeled Fulton 14-4, setting the tone with a five-run first-inning rally and never trailing as it also scored in every inning from the fourth to the seventh to put the Red Raiders away.
All told, Chittenango amassed 17 hits, four of them by Whaley, who tripled, doubled and singled twice. Ana Narolis had three hits and four RBIs, with Bennett tripling and driving in three runs of her own. Katy Myka had a triple and two RBIs as Shoemaker,
Whaley, Nicole Myers and Alexa Rossi had one RBI apiece. Rossi also pitched the entire way, limiting Fulton to five hits while striking out six.
