Though it didn’t get anything close to Evelyn Webster’s historic 11-RBI performance against Hannibal on May 3, the Marcellus softball team looked for something far more valuable – a string of wins in the last week of the regular season, but found that elusive.
Marcellus would play a doubleheader against Cazenovia last Monday and split those two five-inning games. The Mustangs beat the Lakers in the opener 4-1, scoring twice in the first inning and again in the third and fifth innings.
Webster, still on fire at the plate, bashed a home run and double here, scoring twice and getting two RBIs. Emily Durand added an RBI as pitcher Isabel Rodalico struck out eight in her complete-game effort.
However, in the second game Marcellus lost, 8-7, seeing Cazenovia score all of its runs in the first and third innings, including home runs by Samantha Morgan and Allie Hotchkiss. But the Mustangs nearly came back from an 8-0 deficit as it got three runs in the third, three more in the fourth and a run in the fifth.
Webster’s tear continued with three of the Mustangs’ 11 hits, including a triple. Emily Durand, Hannah Durand, Sydney Lewis, McKenna Donegan and Caroline Trytek each drove in a run as Shannon Kellar scored twice.
Playing again on Tuesday, Marcellus shut out Pulaski 9-0, scoring seven of those runs in the first three innings and watching Rodolico pitch a complete-game shutout, limiting the Blue Devils to four hits and striking out four without allowing a walk.
Lewis doubled twice, scored three times and drove in two runs, with Donegan and Durand also having two-hit outings. Rodolico and Emily Welch both contributed a double and RBi as Donegan also drove in a run.
On Thursday, Marcellus took a 10-8 defeat to Chittenango, where it erased two different deficits of 5-0 and 8-5, mainly thanks to four runs in the fifth innings and three runs in the sixth, as Lewis, Donegan, Emily Durand, Emily Weeks and Emily Welch each earned an RBI.
However, the Bears had the last surge, breaking up an 8-8 tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, and seeing pitcher Alexa Rossi pick up the final three outs. Sydney Bennett and Katy Myka led Chittenango, each of them getting two hits and two RBIs.
Shaking this off, Marcellus routed Jordan-Elbridge 20-3 on Friday afternoon, scoring at least three runs in five different innings and accumulating 19 hits, while helped by the Eagles committing six errors.
Lewis went five-for-five, scoring four runs and earning four RBIs. Webster added four hits, four runs scored and three RBIs, while Welch also drove in three runs. Jessie Majo got two RBIs as Donegan, Weeks, Durand and Trytek also drove in runs.
From that outburst, Marcellus went to the other extreme on Saturday, its bats quieted in a 1-0 defeat to East Syracuse Minoa where Webster’s double was the only hit the Mustangs could manage.
Otherwise, Spartans pitcher Sam Short shut things down, recording 10 strikeouts as Rodolico matched those zeroes most of the way and gave up just four hits, but got dinged for a single in the fifth inning when Gilliane McCarthy doubled home Bella Pickard.
Before its defeat to Marcellus, J-E played twice during het week, falling 9-2 to Syracuse last Tuesday as the Eagles were held to four hits, two of them by Ranait McGuire, as Gabriella Bard and McKayla Rohmer had the other hits.
A 9-1 defeat to Skaneateles followed on Thursday as the Lakers got four runs in the first and fourth innings before Mia Arms drove home Bailey Van Gordne with J-E’s lone run in the sixth off Skaneateles pitcher Hannah Blowers, who amassed 14 strikeouts.
