Even as it holds a place as one of the most decorated Section III softball programs, Jamesville-DeWitt remains in search of a first state championship.
And that drought would extend another year following the Red Rams’ 7-3 defeat to Williamsville East in Saturday’s state Class A semifinals at Moreau Recreation Park in South Glens Falls, the game decided by the Flames’ offensive outburst in the first two innings.
Williamsville East, the Section VI champions from the Buffalo suburbs, had a potent lineup that had scored 18 runs against Rochester Mercy in its regional final. And it would also find success against J-D pitcher Shayna Myshrall in the early going.
The Flames picked up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, two of them driven in by Abbie Stellrecht’s double. Then Williamsville East scored twice more in the second to extend the margin to 5-0.
It stayed that way until the top of the fourth, when J-D finally broke through against Flames pitcher Jess Weaver. Mysrhall doubled, Andrea Sumida and Amanda Sumida followed with back-to-back run-scoring hits before Andrea Sumida scored to make it 5-3.
From there, though, Weaver dominated the rest of the game, retiring the last 11 batters she faced. And though Williamsville East didn’t need any more runs, they still got two more in the fifth off Maddy Miske’s double.
Later, in the state Class A final, Williamsville East lost, 1-0, to defending champion Maine-Endwell (Section IV). Meanwhile, J-D felt some disappointment, but could take a lot of optimism from the fact that 10 of the 11 top players, everyone except Makenzie Keeler, could return in 2018.
