Baldwinsville’s softball team broke through in 2023, finally winning a Section III championship when it knocked off Liverpool in the Class AA championship game and avenged a painful defeat to the Warriors in the title game one year earlier.
Now, as 2024 got underway, the Bees wanted to build upon that success, and began its campaign far from home, traveling to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a trio of games at the Ripken Experience.
In the opener last Thursday afternoon, B’ville defeated Portsmouth 8-3 led by a fine all-around performance from Bella Hotchkiss, who pitched a complete game and struck out 12 while allowing six hits.
Hotchkiss also keyed multi-run rallies in the first, third and sixth innings, going two-for-three with a single, double and three RBIs. Leah VerSchneider and Marissa McCloud also drove in runs as McCloud and Layla Trendowski each scored twice. Julianna Gingrich, Mackenzie Southworth, Maddy Gulich and Ella Amato also scored runs.
Far closer was a 3-2 victory over Unicoi County (Tennessee) where, trailing 1-0, the Bees scored twice in the top of the fourth to go in front.
After Unicoi tied it 2-2 in the sixth, a B’ville run in the top of the seventh would hold up, Hotchkiss pitching a scoreless frame to win it as she allowed eight hits, but struck out eight. VerSchneider and Jenna Martin each drove in runs as Franny DeSantis got a pair of hits.
Completing a sweep of the trip, the Bees prevailed 6-2 over Moon Area (Pennsylvania) on Saturday with a quick start, bolting out to a 5-0 advantage by the second inning.
Mackenzie Southworth pitched five innings to get the win. B’ville piled up 15 hits, three of them by Martin, who joined Hotchkiss and VerSchneider with single RBIs as Gulich drove in a pair of runs.
Meanwhile, the Baldwinsville baseball team, looking for improvement in 2024 after going 10-12 a season ago, also headed south for tournament action at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando, Florida, a decade after making its first trip there.
B’ville lost 5-3 to Watertown (Wisconsin), unable to hold leads of 2-0 and 3-2 as two-run rallies by Watertown in the third and sixth innings made the difference.
Ben Leaton pitched four innings, striking out seven, with Joey Warner, Joey Gennario and Nico Wellman also seeing pitching stints. Genario had two of the Bees’ five hits, joining Logan McIntyre and Gavin Seeber in the RBI column. Jace Albero, Jason Ouellette and Tyler Hawthorne each scored runs.
