ONONDAGA COUNTY – Except for the occasional slow start and the stiff challenge from Webster Schroeder on May 23, the Cicero-North Syracuse softball team deflected aside all challenges while moving to no. 3 in the state Class AA rankings.
Before Memorial Day weekend, on May 27, C-NS faced Westhill and got another pitching gem from Cassidy Ormond in a 10-0 shutout, Ormond holding the Warriors to two hits and three walks while striking out 12.
Nicolette Kasch’s home run was the big blow amid a 15-hit C-NS attack. Kasch also singled twice and drove in three runs, with Danielle Filapello and Jenna Mills getting two RBIs apiece. Giana Wameling added three hits as she and Ormond both got one RBI.
Against Baldwinsville two days later, it was close for a while, with Jordan Martin hitting a home run and getting a pair of RBIs as Alyssa Dabacz and Emma Johnson both got three hits.
Still, the Northstars outlasted the Bees 8-4, getting three hits apiece from Kasch and Alayna Harbaugh, who each scored twice. Mills joined Kasch and Harbaugh earning a pair of RBIs as Wameling walked twice and scored three runs. Ormond, despite the early struggles, finished with 12 strikeouts.
In last Wednesday’s doubleheader against West Genesee, C-NS swept it, taking the opening game 7-1 over the Wildcats.
Harbaugh went four-for-four, scoring twice, and Filapello got three RBIs from a pair of singles. Kasch pitched and, despite giving up eight hits, limited the Wildcats to a single run as she recorded eight strikeouts.
The second game was a 9-0 Northstars victory that saw Ormond retire all 15 batters she faced in five innings, a perfect game.
There was also a milestone when Wameling recorded her 100th career hit, rare for a high school player to reach, as she also scored three runs. Hannah Mingle went four-for-four with two triples, two singles and four RBIs as Harbaugh tripled and drove in three runs.
Liverpool, meanwhile, had made quite a recovery from its three defeats to C-NS, building a late-season win streak that included knocking off state Class B no. 3-ranked Marcellus 4-1 last Wednesday afternoon.
For five innings, the Warriors could do little against Mustangs ace Aubrey Fraher, but Mackenzie Frani pitched well, too, only surrendering a single Mustangs run in the bottom of the third and striking out 11.
Frani’s work was rewarded when Liverpool tied it, 1-1, in the sixth, and then took advantage of two walks and an error to plate three runs in the top of the seventh.
Lauren Ragonese had a pair of RBIs as Julia Wike and Haley Miles also drove in runs. Joelle Wike, Lily Stevens and Sarah Miles each crossed the plate.
This streak had included a tough 10-7 win over Baldwinsville on May 27. Having lost 2-1 to the Bees on May 10, the Warriors overcame an early 2-0 deficit and, in the bottom of the fifth, used six runs to break a 4-4 tie before its withstood B’ville’s seventh-inning rally.
Haley Miles drove in four runs with her pair of singles as Emma Terzini had two hits and two RBIs. Julia Wike, Joelle Wike and Cassie Wiggins also drove in runs as Sophia D’Arcangelis scored twice.
Liverpool returned to action on Saturday with two games. It handled Fayetteville-Manlius 12-2 and, in another battle with B’ville, claimed a tense 6-4 thriller.
Trailing 3-2 after four innings, the Warriors tied it in the fifth and then broke out of that 3-3 tie with three runs in the top of the seventh, which allowed it to weather B’ville scoring once in the bottom of the seventh.
D’Arcangelis paced Liverpool with three hits – two singles and a double. Sarah Miles had two hits and scored twice as single RBIs went to Terzini, Haley Miles, Joelle Wike and Gracie Zankowski.
What Liverpool hopes for the most is one more chance at C-NS in Saturday’s Section III Class AA title game. That will happen if the no. 2 seed Warriors beat no. 3 seed F-M in Thursday’s semifinal and C-NS gets past the winner of an opening-round game between B’ville and Rome Free Academy.
