CENTRAL NEW YORK – Given that there’s no dominant team present, the West Genesee softball team had to like its chances going into the Section III Class AA playoffs, where it holds the no. 2 seed and will start play Thursday in the quarterfinals against no. 7 seed Central Square or no. 10 seed Watertown.
The Wildcats’ season has included plenty of good efforts and victories over Class AAA foes, including last Monday’s 5-0 shutout of Rome Free Academy in a game shortened to five innings by rain.
Maria Brandt pitched and limited RFA to three hits, striking out seven and only walking one. A run in the third got WG in front, but it took a four-run rally in the fourth to put the Black Knights away as Brynlee Elkins scored twice and drove in two runs, with single RBIs going to Kyra Lynch, Alanna Bowman and Anna Drogo.
Even more impressive was what WG did in a non-league game against Auburn a day later. In a possible playoff preview (the Maroons are the no. 3 seed in Class AA), the Wildcats put together one big inning and, with Lorelai Leskoske’s pitching, beat the Maroons 5-2.
They were 0-0 when, in the top of the third, WG struck for four runs off Auburn pitcher Lainey Lowe, with key run-scoring hits from Elkins and Jenna Bookman, who had two RBIs apiece.
A run in the fifth followed, but Leskoske already had enough support. She held Auburn to six hits and, more importantly, got error-free defense behind her, only letting the Maroons get single runs in the third and sixth innings.
This brief win streak halted in Wednesday’s rain against Baldwinsville, who continued to solidify its status as the Class AAA favorites by beating WG 11-1, a margin twice the 5-0 win it had over the Wildcats earlier this season.
Elkins singled home Makayla Dunham in the bottom of the third, at which point B’ville led 3-0. Then the Bees added two runs in the fifth and got away with a six-run seventh off Leskoske, who pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of Brandt. WG had just four hits off the pitching duo of Bella Hotchkiss and Jenna DiLiberto.
Jordan-Elbridge faced a tough homestretch of games, but much of it was curtailed by the wet weather that forced a series of postponements.
However, when play did resume on Friday, the Eagles swept a doubleheader from Cazenovia, taking the first game 3-0 with a one-hitter from ace Abby DelFavero that featured 10 strikeouts and three walks. Single runs in the first, third and fifth innings proved enough on J-E’s side as Riley Hill notched a pair of hits, with DelFavero and Erin LaVancha earning RBIs.
A closer second game went 10 innings, but went 6-5 in J-E’s favor as it surrendered a 3-1 lead, only to turn around and, down 5-3, score twice in the bottom of the seventh to get it to extra frames.
Then a run in the 10th won it as Ava Hildebrant had two hits and scored twice, with LaVancha and Cameron Fraher driving in runs and DelFavero striking out 14 to complete her 17 innings of work that day.
Another extra-inning game followed on Saturday and again, J-E won it, edging Phoenix 9-8.
The Eagles led 7-3 going to the bottom of the sixth, but the Firebirds battled back, scoring three runs in that inning and two more in the seventh after J-E extended the margin to 8-6.
But an eighth-inning tally by the Eagles was not answered and DelFavero, pitching six more innings after Brielle Whitten started, got her third win in less than 24 hours. Ahern homered as Heather Sorts and Isabella Jay had two hits apiece, Jay adding two RBIs.
At 13-3 overall, J-E earned the no. 3 seed for the sectional Class B playoffs, where it would face no. 14 seed Adirondack in the opening round and, with two wins, could end up in a semifinal Saturday at Carrier Park with no. 2 seed Marcellus, whom it lost to twice in the regular season.
Bishop Ludden was involved in another high-scoring affair last Monday where it fell 15-11 to Onondaga/LaFayette despite an astonishing performance by Laura Pullano.
All that Pullano did was hit for the cycle – a home run, triple, single and double, all while recording four RBIs. Meridith Pessirito added two hits and drove in a run, with Serena Royal and Grace Fink adding RBIs.
Turning this around a day later, the Gaelic Knights contained Weedsport in a 5-1 victory, nearly getting a shutout before surrendering a seventh-inning run. Two-run rallies in the fourth and fifth innings, along with a run in the sixth, proved enough.
Ludden then prevailed 13-9 over Fabius-Pompey on Thursday afternoon, erasing a 6-1 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the third. After a two-run exchange in the fourth, the Gaelic Knights got five unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings that proved decisive.
The points system rewarded Ludden with a no. 3 seed for the sectional Class D playoffs, where it meets no. 14 seed Poland in the first round, the winner to get Sackets Harbor or Copenhagen in the quarterfinals later this week.
