More than a week passed by, and the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse softball teams waited to resume.
Having both gone undefeated in games played at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina late in March, the Warriors and Northstars faced the same dilemma as every other softball side in Central New York after the early-April snowstorm.
Not until last Thursday afternoon did the teams get back on the field, and the results were quite different. Liverpool, following a slow start at Auburn, hammered the Maroons in the last two innings of a 12-0 shutout, while C-NS saw a late lead get away in a 9-8 defeat to West Genesee.
Clearly, Liverpool expected to handle Auburn, but pitcher Katie Feocco managed to keep the Warriors off the board in the first four innings, matching zeroes with Peyton Bellrose, who was on her way to a complete-game, four-hit shutout that included 11 strikeouts.
In the top of the fifth, though, Liverpool broke through for a run. Then it chased Feocco and notched 11 total runs in the sixth and seventh innings, with Katie Yudin supplying the biggest blows thanks to her home run and double as earned three RBIs.
Delanie Alberici, Lauren Cerrone and Erika Sadowski finished with three hits apiece, while Joelle Nesci doubled and singled. Bellrose and Jenna Wike both finished with a pair of RBIs as Nesci, Gina Meyers and Dana Eagan drove in one run apiece.
Meanwhile, C-NS went to Camillus and got into a back-and-forth battle with West Genesee. Trailing 4-0, the Northstars went in front with five runs in the top of the third, only to have the Wildcats stage its own four-run rally in the fifth to go back in front 8-5.
Still not giving up, C-NS scored three times in the top of the seventh to pull back even, 8-8, but the Wildcats won it in the bottom of the seventh, negating Meghan Bocyck’s big effort where she went five-for-five with a triple and four RBIs. Sam Shalcross doubled and drove in two runs as Brandi Feeney and Gabi Corasaniti had one RBI apiece.
A far bigger test would come Friday for Liverpool when it faced Oneida, the reigning two-time Section III Class A champions. And the game was as good as promised, with the Warriors needing every bit of its skill and patience to defeat the Indians 2-0.
For a long while, neither side blinked. Oneida pitcher Kylie Chesebro matched Bellrose in a scoreless duel, helped by catcher Morgan Sgarlata, who threw out runners trying to steal second in each of the first two innings. Strong defense on both ends snuffed out potential rallies.
Then, in the top of the sixth, with the game still 0-0, Lexi Skibitski led off and sent a drive near the center-field fence. Meyers, out in center, lunged for the ball, caught it and then it bobbled out of her glove for a split-second before it returned.
At first, it was ruled a triple, but after the umpires consulted, Skibitski was called out, denying the Indians its best chance of moving out in front.
Fired up by this play, Liverpool pounced in the bottom of the sixth. Alberici beat out an infield hit and Bellrose doubled before Wike loaded the bases. Though Alberici was out trying to score on a passed ball, Oneida still changed pitchers, bringing in Kyra Sholtzhauer to face Kate Yudin.
Though unable to get the ball out of the field, Yudin’s grounder still scored Bellrose with the go-ahead run. Then, to cap her big effort, Meyers singled home Wike. With a 1-2-3 seventh, Bellrose finished off a complete-game, two-hit shutout where she recorded eight strikeouts and did not give up a walk.
Against Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday, the Warriors won with far less stress, defeating the Hornets 8-0 to make it seven wins in a row before a week of games that includes Baldwinsville and West Genesee that leads to an April 26 clash with C-NS at the Gillette Road complex.
