CENTRAL NEW YORK – With a 16-1 regular season behind them, the Chittenango softball team cast its sights on the Section III Class B playoffs knowing that four wins would be needed to claim the sectional title.
The first of those victories was attained in a lopsided effort in last Tuesday’s opening round, where the no. 2 seed Bears toyed with no. 18 seed Homer in a 19-0 shutout
Having edged Cortland 7-5 a day earlier, the Trojans had little time to recuperate. Knowing this, Chittenango struck for five runs in the first inning and six runs in the second, batting around twice.
More would follow as Anna Cavotta led the attack, going four-for-four and seeing those four singles translate into six RBIs while also scoring three runs.
Brianna Tooke drove in four runs, with Lauren Machan adding three RBIs and Mackenna Palko a pair of RBIs. Alivia Cavotta also scored three times as pitcher Caroline Porter only allowed one hit and struck out 11, the Bears advancing to meet Canastota in the sectional quarterfinals.
Elsewhere in Class B, Cazenovia entered as the no. 19 seed and would put up runs early in last Monday’s opening-round game against no. 14 seed Hannibal.
The Lakers took a 5-1 lead in the top of the second as Lucy Bliss and Cadence Walter each scored twice, with RBIs credited to Riley Newcomb and Cailee Fenton.
Yet Hannibal would take charge by piling up 10 runs in the bottom of the second and go on to prevail, 20-5, led by Eryka DeRocha going five-for-five with a home run, double and five RBIs.
Zoey DeRocha also went deep for Hannibal, finishing with two RBIs as Mikayla Miner and Ryan Dennison each drove in two runs. Paige Reilley and Sophie Wilmot pitched for Cazenovia, whose season finished with a 3-11 record.
