Amid a roller coaster of cold and warm conditions, softball teams from Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse picked up their level of game activity.
Liverpool began the week coming off an April 15 doubleheader sweep at Carrier Park where it had defeated a pair of Section V foes, Webster Thomas and Pittsford Mendon, scoring double-digit runs on each occasion.
Against Thomas, Liverpool won 12-3 and saw Ava Falvo triple, single twice and drive in five runs, while Maya Mills also got three hits as she and Mackenzie Frani had two RBIs apiece. Cassie Wiggins and Brooke Tyler also drove in runs as Lily Stevens and Lauren Ragonese both scored twice.
Wiggins returned to the pitcher’s circle on a chilly Tuesday afternoon at Fayetteville-Manlius and was dominant in the course of a 10-0 victory over the Hornets.
Only allowing three hits, Wiggins amassed 12 strikeouts, while at the plate Liverpool recorded 11 hits, three of them by Falvo, who doubled and scored twice.
Mills’ pair of hits led to two RBIs, while Ragonese, Joelle Wike, Lauren Nestor and Gracie Zankowski drove in one run apiece.
Liverpool finally had its home opener on Thursday afternoon against Auburn, and a combination of Wiggins’ fine pitching and one big rally led to a 6-1 win over the Maroons.
With the game still 0-0 in the bottom of the third, Liverpool struck for five runs off Auburn pitcher Madison Lowe, then added a run in the sixth after the Maroons got on the board.
Frani and Nestor had the key blows, each doubling and getting two RBIs. Mills drove in a run, as did Wiggins, who allowed six hits but thwarted many Auburn rallies and recorded 10 strikeouts.
During Saturday’s doubleheader, Liverpool faced two high-quality opponents – and beat them both.
Against Section V’s Fairport, Liverpool scored twice in the first inning and, after surrendering a pair of third-inning runs, scored twice in the fourth and, with strong pitching from there, prevailed 4-2.
It was another fine all-around performance from Wiggins, whose two-run home run keyed the victory as she also pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts. Lily Stevens and Katia Flavin drove in the other runs as Mills and Horton had two hits apiece.
Then it was Section VI’s Lancaster, and in this game Liverpool was able to fight past the Legends 3-2, making its six victories in a row. Frani pitched and held Lancaster to three hits as Wiggins singled, doubled and drove in a run, Brooke Tyler adding an RBI.
C-NS would get its first look at Baldwinsville exactly one week before Liverpool did so, and in last Thursday’s game the Northstars didn’t get going until the latter stages of an 8-3 loss to the Bees.
They were scoreless until the fourth, when B’ville netted three runs off Lilian Hotaling, then tacked on five more runs in the next two frames against reliever Payton Bach.
Down 8-0, C-NS finally got on the board in the top of the seventh, Isabella Moya hitting a home run as Sydney Rockwell got her third hit and scored, with Sydney Puttkamer and Aubrey Coyle also finding the plate.
The Bees got the final outs, though, as Layla Trendowski led her side with four of B’ville’s 15 hits, scoring twice. Julianna Gingrich and Francesca DeSantis had two hits apiece.
During Saturday’s ALS Touranment at the Gillette Road complex, C-NS met defending sectional Class C champion Sandy Creek, another traditional softball power.
The Northstars beat the Comets 7-1, giving up a first-inning run but then scoring twice in the second and getting away with a four-run fifth and a run in the sixth.
Bach pitched three shutout innings after taking over for Hotaling. Mia Farone’s home run and three RBIs highlighted the attack as Coyle doubled, singled and drove in two runs. Puttkamer and Eva Farone also had RBIs.
