Like in so many other seasons, the Baldwinsville softball team will, in 2018, measure itself against the two neighbors that have dominated the Section III large-school ranks for decades.
The Bees got to meet one of them when it visited Liverpool last Tuesday afternoon. A cold league opener turned into a tense classic where the Bees led twice and rallied twice, but still lost, 6-5, to the Warriors.
It helped the quality of the game that both teams had played in pre-season tournaments down south. B’ville had gone 2-1 at the Ripken Experience in Pigeon Force, Tennessee over the Easter weekend.
In those games, the Bees beat Akron, Ohio’s St. Vincent-St. Mary (the alma mater of LeBron James) 9-4 and Bath (Kentucky) 8-5 while taking a 14-5 defeat to Elmwood (Ohio). At the same time, Liverpool had gone 3-1 in four games at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
A first-inning run got B’ville in front, but Liverpool tied it in the bottom of the third. Then the Bees got to Warriors pitcher Jenna Wike for a pair of runs in the top of the fourth.
Up 3-1, B’ville didn’t see that lead last, Liverpool using a run in the third and two more in the fourth to go in front 4-3. An exchange followed, the Bees tying it 4-4 in the top of the sixth, the Warriors again grabbing the lead with a tally in the bottom of the sixth.
When B’ville cleanup hitter Kayla Young smashed a solo home run to lead off of the seventh, it was 5-5. Yet the Warriors absorbed this blow and, in the bottom of the seventh, won it with three hits – Alicia Nash’s single, Ashley Teixeira’s double and, after a walk to Gina Meyers, a single by Sophia Harris that scored Nash.
Young, who split pitching duties with Brittany Cole, finished with three of B’ville’s 10 hits. Claire McAllister doubled, singled twice and drove in two runs as Kaycee Hawk added a double and RBI. Madelyn Shuler also drove in a run as Delanie Alberici paced Liverpool with three hits.
Gaining confidence from this effort, B’ville won big on Saturday, blanking East Syracuse Minoa 11-0 as Young and Cole combined to limit the Spartans to four hits, Young striking out seven.
The Bees gained 14 hits at the plate, including Young’s second home run in as many games as she also doubled and got three RBIs. Hawk and McAllister drove in two runs apiece as Madelyn Shuler scored four runs, earning a single and double. Chloe Branshaw added an RBI and Madison Ascioti scored twice.
