CENTRAL NEW YORK – Now it was time for the busiest stretch of the area high school softball season – some of it due to normal scheduling, other parts due to previous weather postponements.
Winners of 12 in a row, Marcellus nearly extended it last Wednesday at the expense of reigning sectional Class AA champion Liverpool before it rallied late to top the Mustangs 7-5.
A three-run first inning got Marcellus in front, and it scored twice in the fourth to make it 5-1, Bella Mondello only giving up a single tally in the third as Jillian O’Connor, with two RBIs, led the way.
But all of that changed in the fifth, Liverpool batting around and plating six runs, forcing Avrie Hammond to relieve Mondello, and Marcellus unable to rally in the sixth and seventh against Mackenzie Frani.
A day earlier, the win streak went to 12 and Marcellus got yet another five-inning no-hitter as it bashed Hannibal 17-0.
Mondello (four innings) and Hammond (one inning) struck out 13 between them. The Mustangs also had 16 hits, four of them from Mondello, who drove in four runs as Bryn Goldsworthy and Chloe Kutruff each had three hits and three RBIs. Amelia Novitsky scored four times and drove in a pair of runs.
The defeat to Liverpool was followed Thursday by a tough game against Skaneateles, but Marcellus made Senior Day for Hammond, Carly Hopper, Lilly Schultz and Lee Foster a successful one as it held off the Lakers 7-5.
Skaneateles took a 5-2 lead when it scored three runs in the top of the third, having seen Reese Gaidis score twice and four different players – Grace Wagner, Ayla Pas’cal, Ellie Walsh and Katie Combs – drive in runs to that point.
A run in the third and two runs in the fourth pulled Marcellus even, 5-5, and two runs in the fifth proved decisive as Mondello pitched three innings of scoreless relief, also earning two hits as Goldsworthy scored twice.
In yet another tight game on Saturday, Marcellus edged Central Valley Academy 4-3, seeing a 2-0 lead get away when the Thunder scored once in the fifth inning and twice in the sixth.
But the Mustangs quickly erased that 3-2 deficit with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, O’Connor driving home Hannah Fagan with the go-ahead tally, and Mondello, who struck out 12, got the final three outs. Hopper had two hits as she and Sears both drove in runs.
Westhill hammered Skaneateles 17-2 to start its week, scoring six runs in the second inning and eight runs in the third Alexa Korrie homered and drove in three runs, with Hannah Schmitz going four-for-four with three RBIs.
Sydney Medeiros also had four hits as she scored three times and got two RBIs, with Catherine Cottrell and Kalista Czaplicki also driving in a pair of runs.
Then Westhill proved competitive against state-ranked Chittenango a day later before taking an 8-4 defeat.
Down 2-0 early, Westhill pulled even 2-2, only to have the Bears net five runs in the bottom of the fifth to pull ahead for good. Schmitz still had a pair of RBIs as Korrie and Cottrell got two hits apiece..
A 2-1 loss to new Hartford followed on Thursday, Westhill getting terrific pitching from Schmitz, who struck out eight, and then going up 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth when Korrie singled home Tori Militi.
But the Spartans rallied with Jenna Glenn and Sophia Burynski both driving in runs in the top of the seventh and Sienna Holmes getting the final three outs. Only Korrie had two hits off Holmes, who had 10 strikeouts.
Solvay struck for six runs in the first inning of last Monday’s game at Cazenovia and added 10 runs in the sixth to put away the Lakers 17-5. Jenna Wing went three-for-three, scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs. Tayler Kadlubowski had a double and three RBIs,
More difficult was Tuesday’s 5-4, eight-inning win over Homer where it squandered a 4-1 lead in the game’s middle stages, only to put across the winning run in the top of the eighth.
Not only did Wing pitch all eight innings and amass 13 strikeouts, she got two hits at the plate, matching Gianna D’Eredita and Elly Olvarria.
A day later, Solvay blanked Phoenix 10-0 with Stewart pitching a complete-game shutout and striking out 11. Runs in five of the first six innings helped as Wing went three-for-five and scored twice.
