CENTRAL NEW YORK – By the time the Marcellus and Westhill softball teams were scheduled to meet one another last Saturday afternoon, it had already proven quite an eventful week, though a postponement kept the two neighbors from hitting the diamond.
Marcellus climbed to no. 5 in the state Class B rankings and took a long step toward keeping that porch when it defeated rival Skaneateles 12-3 last Tuesday afternoon.
Two stories unfolded here. One was the Mustangs pounding out 18 hits and scoring in five of six innings, sparked by a four-run first and adding a five-run rally in the fifth.
Bella Mondello nearly hit for the cycle with a home run, single and double as she joined Amelia Novitsky and Maddie Richer driving in two runs apiece. Jillian O’Connor scored three times as Janzen Long had a career-best three hits, matched by Mondello and Hannah Fagan.
The other story involved Mondello continuing to pitch well along with her prowess at the plate. In 6 1/3 innings, Mondello struck out 11 before Carly Sears got the final outs.
Three of the six Skaneateles hits came from Reese Gaidis – a triple and two singles. She also scored a run as RBIs were credited to Ayla Pas’cal and Cydney Pitman.
When Marcellus got its turn against Chittenango two days later, it did not pitch Mondello – and the Bears lit up everyone else who tried to pitch for the Mustangs on the way to prevailing 17-1.
Carly Sears, Janzen Long and Tenly Baker all took turns, but Chittenango accumulated 17 hits and were led by Anna Cavotta’s single, double and five RBIs. O’Connor drove in Mondello for the Mustangs’ lone run as Hannah Fagan added a pair of hits.
Mondello was back for Thursday’s rematch with Skaneateles, and order returned in the form of a 19-6 victory by the Mustangs where it actually trailed 2-1 early before a four-run second and nine unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Aside from her pitching, Mondello also went three-for-five with a triple and piled up six RBIs. O’Connor added three hits, two of them doubles, and drove in three runs as Richer got a pair of RBIs. Ayla Pas’cal went three-for-three for Skaneateles, with Finn Pas’cal driving in two runs and Pitman adding an RBI.
Westhill was 6-2 going into the week, but was dealt an immediate setback in a 5-1 defeat to Chittenango that hinted at what it would do to Marcellus a couple of days later.
To her credit, Warriors pitcher Samantha Snyder did a good job of containment against a lineup that had scored 14 or more runs in all eight of its victories.
Snyder kept the game 0-0 until the top of the fifth when Chittenango’s top of the order, given a third look at Snyder, struck. A two-run single by Stephanie Huckabee was complemented by run-scoring hits from Alivia Cavotta and Anna Cavotta.
While Chittenango went on to handle Marcellus, Westhill prevailed last Wednesday over Cortland 8-1, breaking it open with a five-run fourth inning after single runs in the first and second.
Jocelyn Caputo smashed a home run, added a single and finished with a pair of RBIs. Alexa Korrie singled twice and drove in two runs, with Sophia Johnson and Morgan Kohanski adding RBIs and Sydney Medeiors going three-for-four and scoring three runs. Snyder struck out seven and held the Purple Tigers to five hits.
