Against a stacked field that includes two sides (defending champion Sandy Creek and Cooperstown) ranked in the state top five, the odds of the Bishop Grimes softball team getting all the way back to the Section III Class C title game might prove long.
But the Cobras are ready for that challenge, having navigated through the last week of the regular season with plenty of run production, as evidenced by last Monday’s late surge in a 15-4 victory over the Pulaski Blue Devils that clinched a winning record for 2016.
This game marked the seventh time Grimes had put up double-digit runs in a game, though it was suspenseful most of the way. Pulaski led, 2-0, through one inning, and though the Cobras tied it an inning later, it didn’t flourish until a six-run outburst in the fifth inning, followed by seven more runs in the next two frames.
Meghan Vonden Steinen, with three hits and four RBIs, led an 18-hit attack where Kendall Mancuso, Emma Purce and Mariah Rinaldi also had three-hit outings. Rinaldi scored four runs as McKenna Squier’s pair of hits led to three RBIs and Kaylee Steiner also drove in two runs. Claudia Cook and Becca Vinciquerra each scored three times.
Grimes met Homer in last Tuesday’s non-league game – but instead of putting up the big run totals, the Cobras gave them up in a 16-5 defeat where the Trojans managed multiple runs in five different innings against the pitching tandem of Brianna Squier and Alyssa Cavallo.
Steiner kept it from getting worse thanks to a home run, double and four RBIs that accounted for most of Grimes’ production. Analisa Sisera drove in the other run as Homer’s Rachel Osterhoudt got five RBIs and Ashley Aloi drove in four runs, with Mackenzie Conklin adding a home runs and three RBIs.
Then the regular season ended with Grimes visiting Tully on Thursday afternoon, unable to turn things around during a 10-7 defeat to the Black Knights.
Trailing 6-1 through four innings, the Cobras pulled within one, 6-5, in the top of the fifth, but Tully answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, and got home from there, overcoming Mancuso’s four-for-four effort that included two RBIs, not to mention three hits and three RBIs from Marissa Curtis. Steiner, Cavallo and Vonden Steinen had two hits apiece.
This didn’t sit well with Grimes, who rebounded Friday to beat Weedsport 10-1 as Squier held the Warriors to five hits, striking out seven.
All of the Cobras’ runs came in the first four innings. Steiner hit her second home run of the week, earning two RBIs as part of a three-hit effort. Squier drove in three runs, with Mancuson and Vinciquerra getting two RBIs apiece.
Grimes has the no. 6 seed in the Class C sectional bracket, and that means a rematch with Tully, the no. 11 seed, in Tuesday’s opening round, with the winner going to Thursday’s quarterfinal against Fabius-Pompey or Westmoreland.
Fayetteville-Manlius battled through tough games last week outside of league play, starting with Monday’s 6-0 shutout loss to Utica Proctor, a game which was 0-0 for four innings before the Raiders broke through with four runs in the bottom of the fifth and two more runs in the sixth.
Again, the Hornets’ main problems came at the plate, where It had just two hits, each of them by Lily Fish. On Proctor’s side, Alexis Ramos doubled, tripled and drove in two runs, with Leigha Rivera adding two hits and two RBIs.
Back home Tuesday to face Marcellus, the Hornets had far more success, pulling out a 10-9 decision to earn its third win of the season. It required F-M to overcome a 7-3 deficit with a run in the fourth inning and a six-run outburst in the fifth before it held off the Mustangs’ late comeback attempt.
Sara Arthur’s pair of hits included a triple as she drove in two runs and scored twice. Sarah Vaccaro, Laura Oakes and Alex Monafesky earned one RBI apiece as Madelyn Goskoski scored two runs.
