Thanks to its success in 2016, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team opened this spring in a familiar spot –as reigning Section III Class A champions, with everyone aiming to try and take the Red Rams down.
That certainly didn’t happen in the season opener against Homer last Wednesday afternoon. Following a 48-hour weather postponement, J-D eagerly got underway and torched the Trojans for 20 hits on the way to a 22-0 romp that ended in five innings.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Rams struck for five runs. Not content with that, it batted around in the third inning and scored eight times, following that up with a nine-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth.
Amanda Sumida and Makenzie Keeler both hit home runs, combining for five RBIs. Alexis LeClair’s single and triple drove home five runs all by herself as Andrea Sumida, Taylor Roadarmel, Paige Keeler and Mary Austin earned two RBIs apiece. Shayna Myshrall and Sarina Alexander also drove in runs.
Meanwhile, with just a five-inning pitching assignment, Amanda Sumida gave up three hits and two walks, but still kept Homer off the board as she recorded 10 strikeouts.
East Syracuse Minoa started its second season under head coach Lucia Meola with a 3-2 defeat to Cortland. Sam Short (who pitched and earned six strikeouts), Aubrie Williams and Franchesca Polcaro got two hits apiece as Shaina Brilbeck earned the other hit. Cady Walts and Sarah Boyce led the Purple Tigers with three hits apiece.
Bishop Grimes would drop a narrow 5-4 decision to Fabius-Pompey that same afternoon. Trailing 2-0 through three innings, the Cobras erased that deficit with three runs in the top of the fourth, only to have the Falcons go back in front by scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth.
In the top of the seventh, Grimes pushed across the tying run, yet could not get it to extra frames as, with two out in the bottom of the seventh, F-P’s Tori Heselden doubled home Carly Powell with the winning run.
All that Grimes could manage was three hits, two of them by Becca Vinciquerra, who joined McKenna Squier in the RBI column as Kenna Kelley scored two runs. Kendall Mancuso had the other hit as Brianna Squier pitched and struck out four in a complete-game effort.
