That abrupt blast of summer-like weather early last week meant that it was time to start softball season.
Cazenovia would get underway at Phoenix last Monday afternoon, and was in a close contest most of the way before the Firebirds caught fire in the latter stages to beat the Lakers 7-1.
Trailing 1-0 through three innings, Cazenovia pulled even in the top of the fourth as Delaney Yorks’ single scored Samantha Morgan. Both Yorks and Morgan would finish with two hits, the only hits Phoenix pitcher Cheyenne Wilson allowed while recording eight strikeouts and, more importantly, getting error-free defense behind her.
Morgan, handling the Lakers’ pitching duties, kept the game 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Phoenix scored twice. Four more runs followed in the sixth as the Lakers’ total ran to four errors, while Wilson got two doubles and two RBIs as Molly Thorn also drove in two runs.
Playing again on Wednesday, Cazenovia took a 14-1 defeat to Westhill, scoring the game’s first run in the top of the first, but then seeing the Warriors get 11 total runs in the first three innings, led by Katie Lobello, who doubled three times. Yorks, Hannah Matteson, Carli Cunningham and Janie Kempf earned hits for the Lakers.
In stark contrast to Cazenovia’s struggles at the plate, Chittenango feasted on the opposition in last Monday’s opener at Skaneateles, taking just six innings to put together a 26-8 victory over those other Lakers.
Steadily, the Bears built a 10-0 lead in the first three innings, only to see Skaneateles nearly erase all of it with eight runs in the bottom of the third. But Chittenango countered with six runs in the fourth and then pieced together a 10-run sixth inning to evoke the mercy rule.
Amassing 25 hits, the Bears saw Morgan Shoemaker, Sydney Bennett and Alexa Rossi each get four hits, with Shoemaker earning five RBIs and Rossi adding four RBIs. Natalie Cowburn scored five times as she, along with Trisha Whaley and Cassidy Kelly, drove in three runs apiece. Anna Geller had two RBIs and four runs scored as Shayla Muncy and Meghan Hall each drove in one run.
Then Chittenango went to the other end of the spectrum in Saturday’s 17-1 defeat to Central Square, Kelly scoring the game’s first run in the top of the first, but then seeing the Redhawks answer with seven runs in the bottom of the first and four more in the second to get away.
