A single strike ended up separating the Baldwinsville softball team from a long-awaited Section III Class AA championship in 2022.

That fact, and the sight of Liverpool rallying to win the sectional final and then advancing all the way to the state title game, has stayed with every single Bees player for the last 10 months or so.

So when the 2023 season got underway with a trip to the Ripken Experience in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee during the April school break, B’ville wanted to let every opponent know just how determined it is to finally get the ending right.

Against Taft (Ohio), the Bees struck for four runs in the first inning, then put the game away with a seven-run fourth to earn a 12-1 victory.

Layla Trendowski hit the season’s first home run, adding a triple and earning a pair of RBIs. Bella Hotchkiss also drove in two runs as Hannah Caughey, Leah VerSchneider, Jenna Martin and Julianna Gingrich had one RBI apiece.

Martin, Hotchkiss and VerSchneider each got triples, too, with Hotchkiss also getting the pitching assignment as she held Taft to four hits, striking out four.

Meeting Carlisle (Ohio) a day later, B’ville fell behind in the early going, only to make its way back and earn a 6-3 victory.

Carlisle grabbed a 3-0 advantage by the top of the second before the Bees tied it with two runs in the bottom of the second and another run in the third.

A three-run fourth-inning rally broke the 3-3 tie, and Hotchkiss did the rest, overcoming 13 hits and four walks by getting the outs she needed to keep her team in front.

Martin led at the plate with a single, triple and three RBIs, but Madalynn Gulich was close behind, getting a single and double and driving in a pair of runs. VerSchneider added an RBI and Caughey got a pair of hits.

Back home this week, B’ville would host Section II power Averill Park on Tuesday before going to CBA on Wednesday and a Friday trip to Rochester to face Section V’s Mercy.