For a brief moment in last Monday’s neighborhood clash, the West Genesee softball team sensed a breakthrough against Solvay, having earned a run off Bearcats pitching ace Lauren Nichols in the third inning to take the lead.
The Wildcats’ good feelings didn’t last long, though.
Answering quickly, Solvay scored all of its runs in the bottom of the third, keyed by Hope Rivera’s two-run home run, and went on to prevail 4-1 to run its season-opening win streak to five games.
WG had plated 33 runs in its April 13 win at Utica Proctor, and got to Nichols with two big hits in the third. Grace Schnorr doubled, and cruised home went Mya Case sent a triple to the gap.
As it turned out, the fact that Nichols escaped that inning without further damage gave Solvay momentum. Against Wildcats pitcher Deanna Shackleton in the bottom of the third, Caitln McCann’s double drove in a run, and Sam Farruggio singled home a run.
But it was Rivera supplying the biggest blow, crushing a pitch over the fence for a two-run round-tripper. From there, Shackleton shut out the Bearcats, but Nichols matched her, eventually recording 13 strikeouts while only allowing five hits – two by case, one each by Schnorr, Katie Drogo and Olivia Pontello.
On Wednesday, WG would face another local opponent, Westhill, and turn things around with an impressive 12-1 victory over the Warriors in a game shortened to five innings by rain.
Ariel Cassidy drove home Katie MacBain to give Westhill a brief 1-0 edge in the top of the second. But the Wildcats tied it in the bottom of the second and got away with three-run rallies in the third and fifth innings, with a five-run fourth in between.
Pontello, who scored three times, and Abbey VanHorn both finished with three doubles and three RBIs to pace WG’s 14-hit attack. Drogo added two doubles and drove in two runs as Shackleton (who pitched four innings for the win), Case and Emily Winton each had one RBI. Elle Lazore had two hits and two runs scored.
Prior to that, WG shut out Rome Free Academy 10-0 in a game where a pair of first-inning runs were enough, but the Wildcats still broke it open with six runs in the bottom of the third.
Kayla Hoover pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing seven hits and four walks, but constantly getting out of trouble. Pontello, Schnorr and VanHorn each had a double and two RBIs, while Shackleton, Drogo and Teagan Down had one RBI apiece. Linton scored twice, as did Drogo and Pontello.
As if all that wasn’t enough, WG played twice on Saturday – and won both games. The Wildcats routed St. Francis Prep 15-7, and then defeated Deposit 5-1, all of which improved the team’s record to 6-1.
Westhill had returned to action last Tuesday and shut out Chittenango 4-0, using three runs in the third inning to break a 0-0 deadlock. Warriors pitchers held the Bears to two hits, or as many as Katie MacBain got by herself as she scored two runs, with Cassidy and Gabriella Wicker scoring the other runs.
