CENTRAL NEW YORK – Few high school softball programs in Central New York can compare with the consistency and excellence of Jamesville-DeWitt, who again found itself defending the Section III Class A title heading into the 2024 season.
And the early returns were quite encouraging for the Red Rams, who blasted Fulton 15-0 in last Tuesday’s opener with its usual combination of potent bats and powerful pitching.
Five runs in the first two innings put J-D in control, but it didn’t stop there, the Rams putting together five-run rallies In the fourth and fifth innings to triple its margin.
Kayla McQuaid had three of J-D’s 16 hits, scored three times and got four RBIs. Addison Buffs’ pair of singles drove in three runs as Emily Bulone got two RBIs while she and Emly Bulone matched McQuaid scoring three runs.
A single tally was all that Rams pitcher Kaira McMahon needed. Not allowing a hit, she struck out six and allowed three walks while also getting two hits and an RBI at the plate.
East Syracuse Minoa got its own lopsided win at Carrier Park last Wednesday, routing Syracuse City 20-1 as pitcher Ava Meyer did not allow a hit, striking out eight.
The Spartans netted half those runs in the first three innings before a 10-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth. Brooke Kirkpatrick had a special performance, smashing a home run and double and amassing a career-best six RBIs. Sophia Banach and Maya Boots also went deep, Banach driving in four runs and Boots joining Madelin Marquardt with three RBIs apiece.
Fayetteville-Manlius still looked for its first win of the season, but did not find it at Baldwinsville, falling to the reigning sectional Class AA champion Bees 10-6.
Though it never led, the Hornets never let B’ville get away, either, racking up 10 hits, including a home run by Alexis Hamilton, who finished with three RBIs as Anna Egan added three hits and an RBI. Samantha Monroe doubled and drove in two runs.
Christian Brothers Academy met up with Westhill last Tuesday and lost, 10-4, to the Warriors, who went out in front in the third inning and then got away with six runs in the bottom of the third.
Not until the top of the sixth did the Brothers get on the board, scoring three times there and again in the seventh. Abby Benzinger singled, doubled and drove in a run, with Aubrey Vincentini getting two hits and two RBIs. Juliette Zimmerman was three-for-four, all singles.
The rematch went 3-1 in Westhill’s favor on Friday, with CBA’s lone run coming in the bottom of the first when Maricatherine Giamartino singled home Zimmerman.
Gracie Battles pitched and contained the Warriors most of the way, defeated by two big hits – Alexa Korrie’s two-run double in the first and Cadence Ramsing’s solo home run. Ramsing had also gone deep against CBA in the first meeting.
