Even with slightly nicer weather in April, area high school softball teams still saw a backup in their schedules caused by rain that fell constantly in the early portion of May.
As the week started, Marcellus carried the most momentum, having climbed to no. 16 in the latest state Class B rankings, and it continued to roll last Wednesday afternoon in an 11-0 shutout of Westhill.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Mustangs scored three times to move out in front, adding four-run rallies in the fourth and fifth innings as Evelyn Webster went three-for-three with five RBIs.
Aubrey Fraher, Caroline Trytek, Elaine Grattan and Shannon Kellar each had two hits and two runs scored, with Fraher adding two RBIs as she also kept Westhill off the board despite allowing six hits, striking out nine.
Just 24 hours later, though, Marcellus got thrown off its track by another neighbor as Solvay, led by the clutch hitting of Caitlin McCann, pulled out a 6-5, eight-inning decision over the Mustangs.
They went back and forth in the second and third innings, trading rallies and forging a 4-4 tie. Then it happened again in the fifth, Marcellus grabbing the lead with a run, Solvay answering with a run pulling back even.
And it stayed 5-5 through the end of regulation. Finally, in the bottom of the eighth, McCann, Solvay’s cleanup hitter, belted a solo home run off Fraher to win it for the Bearcats.
It was McCann’s fourth hit of the game, and she had two RBIs before her game-winner. Emily Britton doubled and drove in two runs as Ryleigh Bidwell added an RBI.
Izzy Lambert pitched and shut out Marcellus after the third inning, negating the three hits and two RBIs Grattan picked up, with Trytek adding two hits and Emily Durand adding an RBI.
A day earlier, Solvay piled up runs in an 18-3 win over Homer, the Bearcats scoring in every inning, capped by a seven-run rally in the bottom of the second.
Previewing her Marcellus heroics, McCann had a grand slam, notched three other hits and piled up seven RBIs, part of a 20-hit attack where Sidney Chaffee and Bre Kuhles each got four hits. Kuhles had three RBIs, as did Lambert, while Britton drove in two runs.
And right after that win over Marcellus, Solvay again broke out the bats at Chittenango on Saturday, bashing the Bears 18-2 as it scored in every inning except the fifth and produced 15 hits.
McCann hit her third and fourth home runs of the week and amassed six RBIs, with Lambert notching three triples and driving in four runs. Hannah Martineau doubled and got three RBIs as Chaffee added three hits and three runs scored.
As that went on, Marcellus went to the Mudville Tournament in Herkimer and got a pair of impressive come-from-behind victories, first facing Susan Wagner, from Staten Island, and edging the Falcons 3-2 before rolling past Oneonta (Section IV) in a 10-4 decision to improve its overall record to 11-3.
In the game against Wagner, the Mustangs gave up runs in the first and fourth innings, but scored three times in the bottom of the fourth to erase that 2-0 deficit, with Trytek, Mahoney and Hannah Durand scoring those runs.
Fraher took care of the rest, blanking Wagner over the last three innings and limiting them to six hits overall while recording 10 strikeouts.
Against Oneonta, Marcellus allied again, this time trailing 3-0 before it erupted for seven runs in the top of the fifth inning, adding three runs in the sixth to pull away from the Yellowjackets.
Webster’s home run was the key blow as she finished with four RBIs. Grattan doubled, singled twice and drove in two runs, while Fraher also had three hits and scored twice. Trytek and Emma MacLachlan each had a double and RBI.
