CENTRAL NEW YORK – A deep, experienced and accomplished group of Baldwinsville softball seniors want nothing less than back-to-back Section III championships, and are quite aware of how tough it will be to earn it.
Of the four regular-season games the Bees played against its main rivals for the title Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse, it only won one of them, a 6-1 decision at Liverpool on May 9.
Swept by C-NS, the Bees looked to even that up by getting its own sweep over the Warriors last Tuesday afternoon, only to get shut down at home in a 2-0 loss to the Warriors.
The same pitchers were at it again – Bella Hotchkiss for B’ville, Mackenzie Frani for Liverpool – and they were even better than in the first encounter, tossing five scoreless innings apiece at the outset.
In particular, Frani dominated, only giving up one hit – a triple to Hotchkiss – and then stranding her on third as part of a performance that included eight strikeouts against two walks allowed, both to Ella Amato.
Hotchkiss struck out 11 and only walked one, but in the top of the sixth Liverpool got to her, with Frani and Joelle Wike both reaching base with singles and then coming around to score. Ava Falvo was the only player on either side with two hits.
Unhappy with this result, B’ville took it out on West Genesee a day later, working through the rain to beat the Wildcats 11-1, twice the margin of its 5-0 win over WG at the end of April.
A three-run first inning was enough as Hotchiss (four innings) and Jenna DiLiberto (three innings) gave up just three hits between them, walking three while striking out 10.
Further cushion came from a two-run inning in the fifth and a six-run outburst in the top of the seventh. Hotchkiss drove in three runs, while Brooke Nicholson got three hits. Julianna Gingrich tripled, doubled and scored twice, joining Nicholson, Amato, Leah VerSchneider, Aleena Giarusso and Jenna Martin driving in single runs.
When the rain stopped on Friday afternoon, B’ville prevailed again, gaining a boost of confidence from the shutout Hotchkiss and DiLiberto put together to beat Rome Free Academy 5-0.
Just as they did against West Genesee, Hotchkiss went four innings and DiLiberto three innings, the pair throwing a four-hitter that included seven strikeouts without a single walk allowed.
Three runs in the top of the third put B’ville in charge, followed by single runs in the fourth and sixth. Layla Trendowski went three-for-four with an RBI as Hotchkiss and Amato got two hits apiece and Marissa McCloud added an RBI single.
Despite these wins, and despite its 14-4 overall record, B’ville still ended up the no. 3 seed in Class AAA for the sectional tournament, straight into a semifinal Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Carrier Park against no. 2 seed C-NS, meaning it would have to avenge those previous losses to the Northstars in order to return to Carrier Park for Friday’s sectional final.
