Rarely in the last few years has the Marcellus softball team dealt with defeat.

The Mustangs have gone 52-9-1 since the start of the 2021 season, earning back-to-back Section III Class B titles before falling to Westhill in last May’s sectional quarterfinals.

Most of the lineup is back for 2024, and Marcellus tested itself during a road trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee early last week that started with a game against Madisonville-North Hopkins (Kentucky) that ended in a 4-0 defeat.

Pitcher Bella Mondello, beginning her senior campaign, allowed just four hits and struck out eight, but M-NH broke through with a run in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth. For its part, the Mustangs had just one hit, a single by Bryn Goldsworthy.

Both Mondello and the Mustangs rebounded quite well a day later, defeating Mason County (Kentucky) 3-1 with a late-game comeback.

Trailing 1-0, Marcellus used two runs in the bottom of the fifth to go front and added an insurance run in the sixth, Mondello notching a pair of hits and joining Janzen Long in the RBI column while also striking out 13 in a two-hit complete game.

Back in Central New York on Saturday, Marcellus went to the new artificial turf field at Cazenovia and saw Mondello throw a no-hitter in a 15-0 victory over the Lakers, amassing 17 strikeouts and only gave up one walk.

The game wasn’t really settled until the Mustangs erupted for 11 runs in the top of the sixth, four of them coming home on Jillian O’Connor’s grand slam. Mondello tripled, singled twice and equaled O’Connor’s four-RBI output as Goldsworthy got three hits and Carly Sears drove in a pair of runs.

Jordan-Elbridge arrived in 2024 quite hungry after seeing an 18-1 season last spring end with its own sectional quarterfinal defeat to Port Byron, the only team that beat the Eagles all season.

With a strong lineup back, J-E started quite well last Monday afternoon against Phoenix, leaning on a pair of well-timed rallies to beat the Firebirds 7-1.

They were still 0-0 when, in the bottom of the third, the Eagles put up three runs. A three-run rally in the fifth doubled the margin to 6-0 as Erin LaVancha dazzled with three triples and two walks that led to three RBIs.

Abbie Ahern went three-for-three and scored three runs, with Ava Hildebrant and Abby DelFavero each earning two hits. Not only did DelFavero get an RBI, she pitched a complete game that included 15 strikeouts, only allowing five hits.

Bishop Ludden earned a wild season-opening win over Bishop Grimes/MPH, the Gaelic Knights prevailing 18-16 as it nearly surrendered an enormous lead.

With runs in each of the five innings launched by a six-run first, Ludden overcame a quick 3-0 deficit and went up 15-3 through four, then extended the margin to 18-4 with a three-run fifth.
Grimes would not give up, though, netting three runs in the sixth and batting around in the top of the seventh, accumulating eight runs before the Gaelic Knights were able to get the final out.