High school softball season did get underway in the first week of April, contrasting some years where lingering snow and wet fields would push the schedule back and cause all kinds of rescheduling.
West Genesee was the first of the local teams to see game action, doing so by traveling to defending Section III Class B champion Christian Brothers Academy, where it lost, 12-5, to the Brothers.
The Wildcats led 2-0 thanks to a pair of first-inning runds, but in the bottom of the third the Brothers took charge with a four-run rally. Four more runs followed in the fourth, with a three-run fifth adding to the eventual margin.
Adding a run in the fourth inning and two runs in the seventh, WG saw Abbey Van Horn and Jessica Simon both connect on home runs, Van Horn scoring twice as Maddy Tibbetts also scored a run.
CBA’s Maya Geiss also had a home run, with Maddy Tallman’s pair of hits leading to three RBIs and three runs scored as she also pitched a complete game. Kayla Hoover and Rachel Shackleton each pitched three innings for the Wildcats.
Jordan-Elbridge had its season opener at home on Thursday against Fulton, where it was close for a while before things fell apart late, the Eagles falling to the Red Raiders 9-2.
Fulton seized a 2-0 lead in the first inning, only to have J-E tie it in the bottom of the third on Ranait McGuire’s two-run single. It stayed 2-2 until the fifth, when the Red Raiders pushed across the go-ahead run.
Then Fulton got away with three runs in the sixth and seventh innings as Camille Stevenson led them, notching three hits, including a double, and scoring a pair of runs.
Westhill played Camden last Saturday at Carrier Park and lost, 13-5, to the Blue Devils, who built an 8-0 margin before the Warriors got on the board with all of its runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Jaida Welch did get two hits and two RBIs, scoring twice, with Amanda Case and Ariel Cassidy each driving in one run. Abigail Edgar added two hits.
