Following its dramatic 6-5 defeat to Solvay on May 9, the Marcellus softball team had an impressive rebound with a pair of come-from-behind victories in the Mudville Tournament held two days later at Herkimer.
Marcellus first faced Susan Wagner, from Staten Island, and edged the Falcons 3-2 before rallying 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 Caroline Crytek, Ellie Mahoney and Hannah Durand scoring those runs.
Freshman pitcher Aubrey 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.
Evelyn Webster’s home run was the key blow as she finished with four RBIs. Elaine 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.
Marcellus got another impressive non-league win last Thursday when it beat Liverpool 9-1. A two-run third inning was all that Fraher needed as she overcame 11 hits and constantly worked her way out of possible Warriors rallies.
Then the Mustangs put it away with two runs in the sixth inning and five runs in the top of the seventh, Webster going four-for-four with four RBIs to lead the charge. Hannah Durand had three hits and Emily Durand drove in two runs, with Fraher, Grattan and Mahoney earning one RBI apiece.
From there, Marcellus faced Skaneateles on Friday afternoon and blasted past the Lakers 15-0, most of the damage rendered in a fourth inning where it put up 10 runs after getting shut out in the first three frames.
Not only did Fraher pitch and limit Skaneateles to two hits, she got a double, triple and four RBIs at the plate. Mahoney, MacLachlan, Hannah Durand and Emily Durand each drove in two runs. Trytek and Grattan each had two hits and one RBI.
The Lakers had just beat Phoenix 6-4 on Thursday, Lexi Cottrill pitching a shutout until the Firebirds notched all of its runs in the seventh inning as she only allowed two hits.
Building that 6-0 advantage mostly through two runs in the third inning and three runs in the fifth, Skaneateles had Ryley Pas’cal double, single and drive in three runs, with Maeve Canty adding two hits and two RBIs. Tatumn Pas’cal doubled and drove in a run.
On Saturday, as Skaneateles lost, 11-0, to Cazenovia and 8-3 to Homer, Westhill got its best win of the season against its neighbors from Solvay, the Warriors outscoring the Bearcats 10-7.
This one went back and forth, Westhill up 4-0 through two innings before Solvay rallied and, with three runs in the top of the sixth, seized a 6-4 lead, all on Caitlin McCann’s four RBIs and Hannah Martineau’s three doubles that led to two RBIs.
But then the Warriors stunned the Bearcats by batting around in the bottom of the sixth for six decisive runs. Jaida Welch doubled twice as she match the two-RBI totals from Ariel Cassidy and Emma Shampine. Janae Ricks, Sarah Balduzzi and Vittoria Militi also drove in runs.
Solvay had used that win over Marcellus to get back into the state Class B rankings, but its chance at the OHSL Liberty American division regular-season title slipped away last Wednesday in a 2-1 defeat to Mexico.
The Tigers were 3-9 coming into the game, but other than Bre Kuhles driving home Allie Posnick in the bottom of the second, the Bearcats could not get any runs off Mexico pitcher Brianna Urquhart, who only allowed four hits.
Meanwhile, Mexico tied it, 1-1, in the fifth, and then went ahead in the top of the seventh as Urquhart and Kendall Cuyler drove in those runs and the Tigers held on from there.
Westhill rolled past Hannibal 20-3 last Wednesday in five innings as everyone in the lineup got at least one hit, Shampine earning three hits and scoring five runs. Ricks scored four times as Cassidy, Militi and Abigail Edgar scored three runs apiece.
