CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even though it was coming off a stretch of playing seven times in seven days from May 8 to 13, the Jamesville-DeWitt softball team still had enough energy left to get the best of its neighbors again.
The Red Rams’ 7-3 victory over East Syracuse Minoa last Monday built upon a 9-2 decision J-D claimed when the two sides first met late in April at Carrier Park.
Here, though, the game started well for ESM, who got two runs off Keira McMahon in the top of the second inning.
And the Spartans still were up 2-1 when, in the bottom of the fourth, it all turned. Nearly going through its entire order, the Rams got to Olivia Goff for five runs that proved decisive.
Sophia Zoghby’s three RBIs keyed the charge as Emily Bulone drove in a pair of runs. Hannah Trevisani and Celia Linkiewicz had one RBI apiece .
ESM finished with 10 hits, with Juliana Orcutt going three-for-three and Sara Brefka adding two hits as Ava Meyer, Mya Quonce and Sydney Gurniak drove in runs.
What followed, on Wednesday afternoon, was J-D enduring cold temperatures and falling well behind Section V’s Rochester Mercy, but somehow rallying to claim a 16-15, 10-inning classic.
Mercy built a 9-2 lead through three innings. The Rams’ four runs in the fourth and six runs in the fifth produced a 12-10 lead, but Mercy scored three times in the top of the sixth.
Now trailing 13-12, J-D pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh, forcing extra innings. Then, in the top of the 10th, Mercy scored twice, but the Rams answered with its own three-run rally and pulled it out.
J-D had a season-best 24 hits, with Bulone going six-for-seven as her two doubles and four singles led to six RBIs. Linkiewicz had three hits and drove in three runs, with Amanda Aitken adding three hits and two RBIs as she, along with Linkiewicz and Savannah Schnorr, scored three times.
Far easier was Friday’s 22-2 romp over Whitesboro where J-D got home runs from Linkiewicz and Trevisani and saw Aitken go five-for-five, score five runs and earn three RBIs. Bulone’s double and single led to seven RBIs as Trevisani drove in five runs and Zoghby also got three RBIs.
ESM, playing twice late in the week, routed Fulton 16-1, Goff doing it all from 13 strikeouts in the pitcher’s circle to a home run at the plate to go with a double, single and four RBIs. Brooke Kirkpatrick went three-for-three as she matched Madeline Marquart driving in three runs before a 13-1 loss to Solvay on Friday.
Christian Brothers Academy stepped up last Monday and beat Solvay 7-5, exchanging three-run rallies in the fourth inning before going in front in the fifth and needing a three-run sixth inning to pull it out.
Amid a 13-hit attack, Maricatherine Giamartino got three hits, with Hannah Reilly, Juilette Zimmerman, Allison Boule and Avery Bowman earning two hits apiece as Bowman and Erin Nardella both drove in a pair of runs.
During Thursday’s 14-3 defeat to Westhill, CBA did see Giamartino hit a home run and earn two RBIs, but Westhill pounded out 12 hits as Alexa Korrie finished with three RBIs.
CBA now would head to the Section III Class A playoffs as the no. 5 seed and meet ESM, the no. 4 seed, in Thursday’s quarterfinals at Carrier Park. What was more, J-D is the top seed and would meet either of them in the semifinals if the Rams beat Indian River or Watertown.
Far from this, Fayetteville-Manlius put up plenty of offense in last Tuesday’s game with Cicero-North Syracuse, yet gave up more in an 11-7 defeat to the Northstars, whom it will meet again this Thursday in the sectional Class AA quarterfinals.
Kalyna Dannenberg, in defeat, went three-for-four with an RBI. Megan Woodridge got two hits and drove in a pair of runs as Anna Egan added two hits. C-NS was led by Erica Hibbard’s four hits, two of them doubles, and Eva Farone’s three hits as she and Sydney Rockwell both scored three times.
In Thursday’s 7-3 defeat to Auburn, the Hornets grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, only to have the Maroons tie it in the fifth and then win it with a four-run eighth innning, Grace Hoey twice going deep for home runs.
Bishop Grimes almost got into the win column last Thursday against Phoenix, only to take a 7-5 loss to Phoenix, whose five-run second inning made the difference. Still, Ruby Butler, Antonella Ascioti, Rainbow Butler and Sabrina Loop managed RBIs for the Cobras.
But it finally happened on Friday, Grimes outscoring Tully 17-11 as, trailing 10-9, it erupted for eight runs in the top of the seventh to pull it out. Rainbow Butler went four-for-five and scored four times, Myla Pankow scoring three runs as Elizabeth Corl and Ruby Butler had three this apiece.
Then came a wild 18-15 win over Bishop Ludden Saturday where Grimes had a 10-run third inning and held on despite the Gaelic Knights’ 13-run rally in the sixth. Four different Cobras – Pankow, Butler, Corl and Antonella Ascioti – had two RBIs apiece as Pankow scored four runs. Grimes meets Morrisville-Eaton in the opening round of the sectional Class D playoffs.
