ONONDAGA COUNTY – At least for the Baldwinsville softball team, it was able to get in a full and active 2021 season after COVID-19 wiped out all of its activity in 2020.
The Bees’ rivalry with Liverpool continues to flourish, as evidenced by their meeting on May 27 that featured plenty of runs before the Warriors were able to prevail 10-7.
Single runs in the first two innings produced a 2-0 edge, but Liverpool scored three times in the bottom of the third. An exchange of runs followed before the Warriors broke a 4-4 tie with six runs in the fifth.
Despite a three-run seventh to make it interesting, B’ville could not complete the comeback, though Emma Johnson picked up three hits and scored twice.
Kyrah Wilbur added a single, triple and two RBIs, with Jordan Martin doubling and driving in two runs as Bianca DeSellems and Hadley Michaels also drove in runs. Haley Miles led Liverpool with four RBIs.
B’ville then challenged unbeaten Cicero-North Syracuse on May 29 and gave the Northstars as tough a game as any league foe has this spring during an 8-4 defeat.
Through three innings, the Bees only trailed 4-3, and it would add another run. Martin blasted a home run and got two RBIs as Johnson and Alyssa Dabacz both went three-for-four, scoring three runs between them.
Still, C-NS got away as Alayna Harbaugh and Nicolette Kasch had three hits apiece, with the pair joining Jenna Mills as they each produced a pair of RBIs.
Up against Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday, B’ville rolled to a 15-1 victory over the Hornets led by Dabacz’s two singles and two doubles.
Dabacz scored three runs, as did Wilbur and Bella Nadzan, while DeSellems had two hits and scored twice. Taking her turn in the pitcher’s circle, Taylor Tripodi limited F-M to three hits while striking out seven.
A day later, B’ville had a closer game against Christian Brothers Academy, seeing Maya Geiss lead the Brothes as she hit a pair of home runs and earned four RBIs.
Everyone else was shut down, though, and the Bees prevailed 7-4 getting two RBIs apiece from DeSellems, Gabrielle Carr and Brooklin Ward. Wilbur had two hits and scored three runs.
B’ville took this confidence into yet another battle with Liverpool on Saturday, and again it proved a close one, though the Warriors pulled it out by a 6-4 margin.
Down 2-0 early, the Bees used a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to take a 3-2 advantage. Liverpool tied it, 3-3, in the fifth, and then authored a three-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to go back in front.
Despite a seventh-inning run, B’ville could not catch up as Carr finished with a pair of RBIs, with Johnson also driving in a run. Sophia D’Arcangelis paced Liverpool with three hits and Sarah Miles scored twice.
All of this led to B’ville getting the no. 4 seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs, needing to beat no. 5 seed Rome Free Academy Tuesday to earn another shot at C-NS, the top seed, in Thursday’s semifinals at the Gillette Road Complex.
