CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the Marcellus softball team defeated Solvay late in April, both sides left with good feelings – the Mustangs having won again, the Bearcats having proven that it could legitimately challenge the reigning two-time sectional Class B champions.
Nearly a week later, the Mustangs were back on the diamond, taking on Westhill, and put together its ninth consecutive victory, rolling to a 10-1 decision.
Bella Mondello allowed four hits and amassed 14 strikeouts, maintaining a shutout until the bottom of the seventh, when Isabella Johnson doubled home Alexa Korrie for Westhill’s lone run.
A two-run first inning was followed by a late getaway, Marcellus scoring four times in the fifth and three times in the seventh as Mondello supplied a home run to go with a double and two singles in a four-for-five outing.
Avrie Hammond and Bryn Goldsworthy each had three hits and two RBIs, with Carly Sears also driving in a pair of runs. Carly Hopper and Jillian O’Connor had matching totals of two hits and an RBI.
Against Christian Brothers Academy on Friday, Marcellus kept it up, prevailing 12-1 over the Brothers as Mondello, after allowing a first-inning run, maintained a shutout by striking out 11 against two hits and four walks.
Eight runs in the fifth through seventh innings put the game away as Hammond, with two hits and three RBIs, set the pace. Sears and O’Connor each scored three times as O’Connor had two RBIs and Mondello got a pair of hits.
Then, meeting East Syracuse Minoa Saturday at Carrier Park, the Mustangs fell behind but overcame that big deficit to topple the Spartans 8-5 for its 11th win in a row.
Helped by Olivia Goff’s home run and Brooke Kirkpatrick’s pair of RBIs, all of it off Mondello, ESM scored three times in the second and twice in the third to put Marcellus in a 5-0 deficit.
But then Hammond relieved Mondello and pitched four scoreless innings of relief, striking out five, while a four-run fourth inning and a run in the sixth tied it, 5-5.
That tie was broken when Marcellus scored three decisive runs in the top of the seventh. Chloe Kutruff, with her pair of RBIs, led the rally, Hopper and Hannah Fagan getting two hits apiece as O’Connor, Hammond and Janzen Long each drove in runs, too.
Solvay, meanwhile, played Mexico last Tuesday afternoon and, despite the cold, damp conditions, the Bearcats pounded out 11 hits and beat the Tigers 9-2.
Scoring runs in every inning except the third, Solvay was led by Jenna Wing, who had three hits, including a triple, and scored twice while also pitching 4 2/3 innings before Annabelle Stewart took over in relief.
Hannah Haase was three-for-three, driving in a pair of runs. Rachel Willsey also had two RBIs as Wing, Gianna D’Eredita and Delnaey Kaszubinski had one RBI apiece.
But then Solvay ran into Westhill on Friday, and it was WHS who prevailed 3-2 in a tense thriller.
They exchanged first-inning runs before Westhill struck twice in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 lead. Korrie had an RBI as Sydney Medeiros, Kalista Czaplicki and Hannah Schmitz scored the runs.
Though Wing shut out Westhill from that point forward, Schmitz limited the Bearcats to a third-inning and nothing more, only surrendering three hits overall and recording 10 strikeouts.
