Based on all that had taken place in the regular season, the Cicero-North Syracuse softball team knew that Baldwinsville provided the most formidable obstacle to a third consecutive Section III Class AA title.
The Bees, who entered the state Class AA rankings in the no. 28 spot, beat the Northstars on May 8, and continued to play well after that game, too, recording a 6-0 shutout of reigning sectional Class B champion Christian Brothers Academy last Monday afternoon.
Kayla Young held the potent Brothers lineup to four hits, all singles, and walked four while striking out eight. Her effort was made easier by B’ville getting to CBA pitcher Maddy Tallman for two runs in the second inning and three runs in the third.
Alyssa Dybacz notched three hits and drove in two runs. Kaycee Hawk got two hits and scored twice, with Young and Jordan Martin each adding RBIs. Adrianna Capsello scored two runs, with Mattison Phinney and Emma Johnson also crossing the plate.
C-NS, meanwhile, had its own impressive non-league effort that same Monday against East Syracuse Minoa, who is coached by former Northstars great Lucia Meola.
Meola’s Spartans had won four in a row going into this game, but state no. 6-ranked C-NS handled them 13-0, moving its overall record to 16-2.
Two rallies was all C-NS needed as it jumped on ESM pitcher Shaina Brilbeck for eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, adding five more runs two innings later, plenty of protection for Ariana Corasaniti, who limited the Spartans to two hits overall.
Brooke Nicolaos got three RBIs as Francesca LoRobardiere drove in two runs. Corasaniti, Brandi Feeney, Ally Ciafratta and Giana Wameling had two hits apiece, with Shannon Sisco scoring twice to match Feeney and Ciafratta.
Liverpool attempted to get a regular-season sweep against West Genesee last Tuesday afternoon, but a single inning proved costly to the Warriors in a 9-6 defeat to the Wildcats.
Having beat WG 4-1 two weeks earlier, Liverpool had a 2-0 lead when, in the bottom of the fourth, Cassie Wiggins and Sarah Miles struggled, the Wildcats scoring all nine of its runs.
Kayla Hoovler’s bases-clearing triple was one key blow, with Sophia VanHorn’s double also bringing home three runs as Abbey VanHorn had a two-run double.
Nearly making it all the way back, the Warriors closed the gap with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but couldn’t quite catch up. Alicia Nash hit a home run as she and Julia Wike both drove had two RBIs, with Emma Terzini and Makayla Sweeting each driving in one run.
On Wednesday, it was B’ville against Liverpool, and the Bees got the best of it, prevailing 11-3 as it took charge with five runs in the third inning and four runs in the fourth inning to erase an early 1-0 deficit.
Young did it all, from pitching a complete game to earning a home run, two singles and five RBIs at the plate. Johnson drove in two runs, with Hawk, Dybacz, Martin and Khyra Wilbur getting one RBI apiece. Alicia Nash (two doubles) and Helen Nash (double, triple, RBI) paced Liverpool.
C-NS, meanwhile, shut out Christian Brothers Academy 5-0, Corasaniti getting one more post-season tune-up as she held the Brothers to one hit all afternoon.
A run in the fourth inning got the Northstars in front, but four runs in the sixth put the game away as Alayna Harbaugh went four-for-four with a double and two RBIs, while Wameling had three hits. Corasaniti and Jordyn Maldonado both doubled and drove in runs.
When the sectional Class AA playoff brackets were released, just five teams were on it – and Liverpool wasn’t one of them.
With the top seed, C-NS had a bye directly into this Saturday’s semifinal at the Gillette Road complex against Fayetteville-Manlius or Rome Free Academy, with B’ville, the no. 2 seed, meeting Syracuse in the other semifinal.
