CENTRAL NEW YORK – All around them, the Marcellus softball team saw most of what was considered its prime challengers for the Section III Class B championship cast aside during the early rounds of the sectional tournament, often by some of the Mustangs’ biggest rivals.
Yet it didn’t keep Marcellus, no. 5 in the latest state Class B rankings, from maintaining its high level of play, whether it was timely hitting or tremendous pitching from both of its aces, Aubrey Fraher and Annanbella Mondello.
Saturday’s sectional semifinal at Herkimer Community College pitted the Mustangs against one of those surprise teams, Skaneateles, who had emerged from a no. 12 seed to knock off no. 5 seed Holland Patent and no. 4 seed South Jefferson in the early rounds.
Trying for an even bigger shocker against a main rival, though, the Lakers could not pull it off, unable to get on the board in an 8-0 defeat to the Mustangs.
Mondello was taking her turn in the pitcher’s circle after Fraher threw a no-hitter in Thursday’s quarterfinal against Mexico, a 9-0 decision where Fraher struck out 14 and only allowed one walk, while Katie MacLachlan got three RBIs. Carly Hopper and Jillian O’Connor drove in two runs apiece as Brooklyn Finnarty scored twice.
Meanwhile, Sknaeateles had won 3-1 over South Jefferson in eight innings, trailing 1-0 until it tied the game in the top of the sixth on Natalie Yokom’s single and then, in the top of the eighth, won it when Ayla Pas’cal crushed a two-run home run off Spartans pitcher Emma Schafer.
This rewarded the work of pitcher Laci Gaidis, who after surrendering a first-inning run blanked South Jefferson the rest of the way, giving up just four hits overall while striking out six.
Gaidis now faced Marcellus, and for the most part did a solid job containing the potent Mustangs lineup, only allowing single runs in the second and fourth innings to keep the game close.
At the plate, though, the Lakers could not solve Mondello, only getting two hits, one each by Cydney Pittman and Kelly Goldberger, while Mondello recorded nine strikeouts and then watched as her teammates put the game away in the bottom of the sixth by batting around and netting six runs.
Bryn Goldsworthy hit a home run, while Finnarty remained hot with two hits and three RBIs. Fraher also drove in a run as Emma MacLachlan notched a pair of hits and Katie MacLachlan scored twice.
Now Marcellus watched as Westhill, another local side making an unlikely playoff run, tried to maintain in the other sectional Class B semifinal, only to take a 5-1 defeat to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown.
Westhill, the no. 7 seed, had crashed the Class B party in THursday’s quarterfinals when it shocked no. 2 seed (and state no. 4-ranked) Oneida 7-3, with Abby Cottrell getting a single, double and three RBIs as Tori Militi and Kalista Czaplicki each drove in two runs and Hannah Schmitz pitched well, striking out seven and limiting Oneida to five hits.
Yet APW had pulled off its own pair of playoff road wins over no. 6 seed Jordan-Elbridge and no. 3 seed Chittenango and carried that confidence over to the semifinal game against the Warriors, scoring a run in the second and taking charge with three runs in the top of the third.
Zoie Ferris banged a home run and three RBIs, which was all pitcher Christa Koagel needed as she got eight strikeouts and overcame seven Westhill hits. Militi’s solo home run in the bottom of the sixth was the Warriors’ lone tally as she and Czaplicki had two hits apiece.
