CENTRAL NEW YORK – It was not a big stretch to say that the Chittenango softball team did not like getting shut out by Liverpool on April 12, and that whoever was next on the schedule would pay for that frustration.
Homer, as it turned out, was in the way last Tuesday afternoon in a doubleheader that turned into a hitting showcase, the Bears cranking out 39 total runs in the course of sweeping the Trojans.
A nine-run first inning in the opener set the productive tone, Chittenango going on to win 21-1. The final total included 19 hits, four of them by Alivia Cavotta, who scored three times.
Anna Cavotta was a home run short of the cycle as she single, doubled, tripled and drove in three runs. Julia Spencer’s double and two singles led to three RBIs, while Caroline Porter, Carmella Furco and Brianna Tooke drove in two runs apiece. Porter also pitched and accumulated 13 strikeouts, only surrendering one hit.
The second game nearly matched the first, Chittenango nearly batting around twice in a 12-run first inning that led to defeating Homer 18-1, with Lauren Machan at the forefront.
All Machan did was smash a home run, add a double and pile up five RBIs. Spencer drove in two runs, with Cavotta and Hannah Cretaro scoring three runs apiece as Machan also pitched an inning to help Spencer, who allowed just two hits.
The Bears’ game with Mexico was rained out and rescheduled for May 4, with the Bears heading off to the school break and not resuming league action until the end of the month.
Cazenovia met Marcellus last Tuesday at Onondaga Community College and lost, 15-6, to the Mustangs, who built a 12-3 lead through two innings and never let the Lakers get closer.
Lucy Bliss did earn a pair of hits as she and Sophia Wilmot scored twice. Madison Weeks, Madden Cobb and Cadence Walter joined Wilmot in the RBI column as Paige Reilley took the loss. Bella Mondello and Amelia Novitsky led Marcellus, each with a triple and two RBIs.
But when the Lakers returned home to Solvay a day later, it pulled something it hadn’t accomplished in 14 years – namely, beat the Bearcats head-to-head.
The 9-6 victory turned on a second-inning rally where Cazenovia, tied 1-1, broke out for five runs to take the lead for good, though it still needed two runs in the third and, after Solvay cut the margin to 8-6, a run in the sixth to put the game away.
Reilley and Caitee Fenton both doubled and drove in three runs, with Wilmot adding a pair of RBIs. Walter and Layla Decker also had RBIs as Bliss and Gianna Comino joined Reilley and Fenton with two hits apiece and Cobb scored twice. Reilley struck out nine to overcome five hits and eight walks.
