CENTRAL NEW YORK – Amid a growing amount of activity at the end of April, the Marcellus softball team patiently waited for the weather to warm up and for the fields to dry.
Then, when it resumed action, the Mustangs would get the best of two local rivals, starting last Wednesday when it subdued West Genesee by a score of 7-1.
Bella Mondello frustrated the Wildcats most of the day, gaining 16 strikeouts. She allowed just two hits and maintained a shutout until WG poked across a run in the bottom of the seventh inning,
By then, Marcellus had a comfortable margin thanks to three-run rallies in the third and seventh after a run in the first. Hannah Fagan’s pair of hits led to three RBIs as Mondello, Carly Hopper and Avrie Hammond had two hits apiece, with Carly Sears contributing an RBI.
A day later, the Mustangs accepted the challenge of 6-1 Solvayand, in a possible playoff preview, the game proved close and energetic, but Mondello’s fine pitching again made a difference in a 4-1 win over the Bearcats.
Aside from a fourth-inning run scored by Hannah Haase, Mondello kept Solvay off the board, surrendering just two hits and amassing 17 strikeouts to give her 108 for the season.
Annabelle Stewart pitched well for the Bearcats, never allowing a big inning. Marcellus used single runs in the second and third to get a 2-0 edge and then added two more runs in the fifth and sixth as Bryn Goldsworthy got a pair of RBIs and Amelia Novitsky contributed a pair of hits.
After it battled Marcellus, Solvay, with some newfound confidence, got a five-inning perfect game from eighth-grader Jenna Wing in Friday’s 15-0 win over Cortland.
Striking out six, Wing also had two hits at the plate and scored three runs. Rachel Willsey also scored three times as Susie Overend tripled, singled and got four RBIs. Delaney Kabuszinski drove in three runs and Gianna D’Eredita had a pair of RBIs.
Earlier in the week, Solvay prevailed 8-5 over Hannibal, building a 6-0 lead through four innings and needed it to withstand Hannibal’s five-run sixth.
Haase went three-for-four with two runs scored. Jayde Coyne added two hits as she and Kabuzinski were credited with RBIs and Wing struck out 11, foreshadowing her date with perfection.
Westhill was victorious 6-3 over Mexico last Tuesday in a game where the Tigers scored twice in the top of the first, only to have Westhill tie it by the second and go in front with a decisive four-run rally in the fifth.
Abby Cottrell drove in a pair of runs, with single RBIS going to Catherine Cottrell, Sydney Medeiros, Alexa Korrie and Kalista Czaplicki. Nikki Scrimale went three innings to earn the win as she split pitching duties with Hannah Schmitz.
Then Westhill blanked Cazenovia 17-0 by pounding out 16 hits, three of them home runs by Schmitz, Korrie and Kathleen Rogers, who each finished with three RBIs as Scrimale and Schmitz held the Lakers to just two hits.
Skaneateles put up lots of runs in last Tuesday’s game against Homer, but gave up twice as many in a wild 24-12 defeat to the Trojans, followed by a 13-6 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy on Thursday.
