When pondering the Solvay softball team’s third appearance in the state Class B final four in the last four years, and the fact that her team got stopped in the finals on each of the previous two occasions, Bearcats pitching ace Lauren Nichols had a simple goal in mind.
“Hopefully the third time is the charm and we can win it,” she said.
If, indeed, the cliche turns into reality, Nichols will have played the central role in that story, as she did again when Solvay edged Section IV champion Susquehanna Valley 1-0 in Friday’s Class B regional final at Carrier Park Field of Dreams in East Syracuse.
Except for a single, an error and a pop fly that went untouched in the seventh inning, the Sabers did not get anything against Nichols, who logged her fifth consecutive post-season shutout and struck out 14 along the way.
Yet this was still the closest call in the Bearcats’ playoff run, as SV pitcher Sophia Pappas mostly mowed down Solvay’s lineup, save for a first-inning dent that turned into the game’s lone run.
Maya Martineau beat out a bunt single to lead off the bottom of the first. Delana Thomas popped out and Nichols struck out, but in between Martineau stole second, giving Caitlin McCann an opportunity.
McCann said that Pappas quick-pitched her, which only increased her focus – and led to a clean single that allowed Martineau to race home.
Pappas shut things down from there, not allowing another baserunner until the sixth, when Martineau again reached on a bunt single and made it to third base before getting stranded.
So that left it all to Nichols. Through four innings, not only was the Bearcats right-hander perfect, she had recorded 11 strikeouts, nine of them in a row, Nichols saying that the movement and spin on her pitches was as sharp as ever.
Leading off the top of the fifth, the Sabers’ Hannah Haskell singled to break up the perfect game and no-hitter, but Nichols used two more strikeouts to avoid further trouble. Then, an error, bunt and wild pitch put a runner on third with two out, but Sophie Keehle popped out.
A tough fly ball lost in the sun and wind allowed Pappas to get on base to lead off the seventh. Facing the pressure, Nichols coaxed Hannah Haskell and Madison Tuttle to hit short pop-ups right back to her, and Michaela Haskell struck out to end it.
Now it’s off to Moreau Park, near Glens Falls, where Saturday at 1:30 Solvay faces Cohoes (Section II) in the state semifinals, with the title game to follow a few hours later against Babylon (Section XI) or Depew (Section VI). It’s the third trip the Bearcats have made to this championship weekend in the last four years.
Head coach Phil Merrill said that the Solvay teams that got this far in 2014 and 2015 were quite different than this one, adding that those previous Bearcats relied on the bats, while this one is a bit more scrappy.
But when Nichols is throwing well, said Merrill, “we’re in great shape, and we can find a way to score runs.”
