At least until last week, no SCAC Empire division opponent had given the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team too much stress.
All of that changed, though, in last Monday’s game against Central Square, where the Red Rams needed every bit of its clutch hitting plus Keira McMahon’s pitching to edge the Redhawks 3-2.
McMahon found herself in a pitcher’s duel Central Square’s Caitlyn Redeye, helped by a first-inning run but seeing the Redhawks tie it, 1-1, in the top of the fifth.
Answering well, J-D put together a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth, each run needed as Central Square pushed across a run in the seventh before McMahon, who surrendered eight hits, was able to get the final out. Redeye only allowed two hits, one each to Amanda Aitken and Emily Bulone, while striking out 13.
So began a week where the Rams would play a total of seven games, winning five of them.
J-D’s game Wednesday with Oswego would end with the same 3-2 margin as it did with Central Square, though it got there in a different manner.
Neither team scored until the Rams pushed across a run in the fourth, and it stayed 1-0 for a while, Buccaneers pitcher Maria Sweet on her way to 13 strikeouts and effectively equaling what Kayla McQuaid was doing.
Then, in the top of the seventh, Aitken singled, moved over to third and was driven home by McMahon, who promptly stole two bases and scored on Stella White’s grounder.
Now up 3-0, McQuaid nearly let it get away, Oswego scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh, but earned the final out, ultimately limiting the Bucs to four hits and earning eight strikeouts.
McQuaid pitched in part because J-D had a doubleheader the next day against Fulton, where the win streak would grow to eight in the opener as the Rams recorded a 7-0 shutout.
McMahon pitched and only allowed two hits. Three runs in the first, plus two-run rallies in the third and fourth, provided support as Bulone went three-for-three, scoring twice, with Sopha Zoghby getting a double, single and three RBIs. McQuaid, Aitken and McMahon also drove in runs.
Fulton would respond by ending J-D’s win streak in the nightcap, a 5-2 decision where the decisive blow was a grand slam from Riley Storrs in a five-run third inning off McQuaid.
Throwing four scoreless innings of relief, McMahon kept it from getting away after she drove in runs in the first and third inning, but Fulton pitchers Dilyn Caza and Emma Spaulding preserved that lead.
Not happy with this defeat, J-D took it out on Syracuse City Friday in a 24-1 romp, which included a 12-run second inning and 21 hits, every single Rams player recording at least one hit.
Perfect at the plate, McMahon went four-for-four, all those singles leading to five RBIs McQuaid scored five times and Aitken scored four times as Bulone earned three RBIs. McQuaid, Sophia Zoghby and Celia Lenkiewicz drove in two runs apiece.
Now J-D headed to the Buffalo area for two more games on Saturday and would split them, again decided by a single run as it topped City Honors 3-2, but fell 2-1 to Orchard Park.
