Changes in the schedules meant that the Cazenovia and Chittenango softball teams would have their neighborhood showdown last Tuesday afternoon in the form of a doubleheader, two games of five innings each.
In the opener, it was the Bears finishing on top, 5-3, scoring three runs in the first inning and answering the Lakers’ pair of runs in the bottom of the first by scoring twice more in the top of the third, which proved enough.
For Chittenango, Shayla Muncy had two hits and scored two runs. Morgan Shoemaker also scored twice as Sydney Bennett drove in a pair of runs. Cazenovia’s Samantha Morgan and Hannah Matteson each had one RBI. Bears pitcher Alexa Rossi held the Lakers to just three hits.
The second game featured more runs – and Cazenovia thrived, beating Chittenango 13-7 to salvage the split. The Lakers scored three runs in each of the first two innings, and then broke it open when it plated seven runs in the top of the fifth.
Delaney Yorks led Cazenovia with two hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. Laura Clements doubled as she and Carli Cunnigham each matched Yorks’ two-RBI output. Matteson doubled and drove in a run. Shoemaker and Rossi drove in two runs apiece for the Bears as Trisha Whaley got two hits. Katy Myka and Anna Geiler had one RBI apiece.
A day earlier, Chittenango did get in its game with Solvay and lost, 17-0, to the Bearcats, who capped its efforts with an 11-run fifth inning as pitcher Lauren Nichols limited the Bears to one hit (Muncy’s double) and struck out 10, while also getting two doubles and four RBIs at the plate.
