The West Genesee softball team was still in search of its first win of the season when it fell 7-5 to Fulton last Tuesday afternoon, but then broke through a day later when it outscored Utica Proctor 20-9.
Against the Raiders, the Wildcats were down 2-1 after one inning, but it plated seven runs in the top of the second and kept adding to that total afterward.
Maddy Tibbetts, in particular, teed off, Tibbetts twice connecting for home runs and finishing with six RBIs as Teagan Down added three hits and drove in three runs. Izabella Carrodegaus added two hits and two RBIs as Jessica Simon scored four times.
This followed the game against Fulton where WG’s four-run third inning put them out in front, but the Red Raiders countered with five runs in the third and fourth.
Even when the Wildcats tied it 5-5, Fulton scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to move ahead for good. Julia Ziel had three hits for WG, with RBIs going to Abbey VanHorn, Maddy Vanelli and Kayla Hoovler. Madison Gilmore led the Red Raiders with four RBIs.
Right after beating Proctor, WG was on the field again Thursday and cooled off in a 10-1 defeat to Auburn, managing just four hits, two of them by Simon, and a single run driven in by Tibbetts in the sixth inning.
By then, Auburn was in front, though it used six runs in the bottom of the sixth to blow it open as Meghan Wiseman, Dory DiLallo and Morgan Cook each hit home runs for the Maroons.
WG salvaged a 2-2 split of the week’s games when it roared to an 18-0 victory over Oswego on Friday afternoon, all the runs coming in the second, third and fourth innings before the mercy rule was evoked.
While Hoovler struck out eight in her complete-game pitching effort, she also had three RBIs at the plate, which Carrodegaus matched. Dow drove in two runs, with Simon scoring three times and Simon adding an RBI.
That same afternoon, Westhill was back in action and pulled out a 4-3 decision over Phoenix with a dramatic rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, scoring twice to overcome a 3-2 deficit.
Belle Cassidy’s pair of RBIs were augmented by runs driven in by Ariel Cassidy and Sarah Balduzzi. Jaida Welch had three hits, with Balduzzi, Emma Shampine and Abigail Edgar each earning two hits.
Meanwhile, Skaneateles lost its opener 12-3 to Christian Brothers Academy last Tuesday afternoon, a game which it led, 1-0, thanks to a second-inning run before the Brothers got away with four runs in the third and five runs in the fifth.
Natalie Yokom singled, doubled and drove in all three of the Lakers’ runs, two of them scored by Maeve Canty, who got a pair of hits. CBA featured Emily Hall’s home run, two singles, three runs scored and three RBIs off Skaneateles pitcher Hannah Blowers.
An 18-1 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius followed on Wednesday, with Ryley Pas’cal driving in the Lakers’ lone run in the bottom of the fourth, but only after the Hornets plated 14 runs in the top of the fourth.
In Thursday’s 11-3 defeat to Oswego, the Lakers again were up early, leading 3-1 in the third inning, Yokom having earned an RBI as Pas’cal, Carlee Pitman and Maddy Ramsgard scored runs. But the Buccaneers scored three times in the bottom of the third, and then used seven total runs in the fifth and sixth innings to draw clear.
