Needing a spark of some kind following OHSL Liberty division defeats to Phoenix and Westhill, the Cazenovia softball team got it last Monday with a sweep of a doubleheader against the Onondaga Tigers.
The two five-inning games were quite different from each other. The opener went 4-1 in the Lakers’ favor thanks to two-run rallies in the first and third innings and solid pitching from Samantha Morgan, who held OCS to four hits and struck out seven. Delaney Yorks and Janie Kempf each had two hits, with Morgan and Yorks credited with RBIs.
Then Cazenovia fell behind the Tigers 7-0 in the second game, only to win, 27-8, taking the lead with eight runs in the third inning and then, after a three-run fourth, exploding for 16 runs in the top of the fifth inning, one of the biggest run totals in a single inning in program history.
All told, the Lakers had 24 hits, four each from Yorks and Carli Cunningham. Danielle Tedesco’s two hits led to four RBIs as Yorks drove in three runs. Cunningham and Morgan had two RBIs apiece as Kempf and Annie Avery each scored four runs, Avery and Laura Clemets getting two hits apiece.
Chittenango entered the week following a rough 17-1 defeat to Class AA contender Central Square on April 15. Cassidy Kelly scored the game’s first run in the top of the first, but the Redhawks answered with seven runs in the bottom of the first and got fou r more runs in the second inning to pull away.
Kelly and Alexa Rossi split the pitching duties, but neither of them could contain a well-balanced Central Square lineup. Mikayla Casale, with two hits and three RBIs, led the Redhawks as she doubled twice, as did Erin McCarthy, Abby House and Courtney Horne. McCarthy, Alyssa Payne and Gabbi Strong had two RBIs apiece.
Then the Bears lost, 4-0, to Westhill last Tuesday afternoon, held to two hits, one each by Trisha Whaley and Sydney Pellman. Three of the Warriors’ runs came in the third inning as Katie MacBain led that side with two hits and two runs scored.
