EAST SYRACUSE – Though she has always displayed a potent mix of powerful pitching and a powerful presence at the plate, Marcellus softball senior Bella Mondello hit a new level in Saturday’s Section III Class B semifinal at Carrier Park.
Against an upstart no. 6 seed in Cazenovia, Mondello again piled up strikeouts and then put away the Lakers with her bat as the no. 2 Mustangs prevailed by a score of 10-2.
Though Marcellus had routed Cazenovia twice by a combined 30-6 margin in two regular-season meetings in April, the Lakers had vastly improved since then, capped by a sectional quarterfinal upset where it edged no. 3 seed Jordan-Elbridge 1-0 in eight innings.
Knowing all this, the Mustangs put pressure on Cazenovia pitcher Paige Reilley from the outset, using walks and bunts to force a series of throwing errors and three quick runs in the bottom of the first.
Though Mondello had a part in that early rally, she didn’t really get going until the bottom of the third, when she drilled a Reilley pitch over the right-field fence to make it 4-0.
Then, after the Lakers cut it to 4-1 in the top of the fourth, the Mustangs put it away with four runs in the fourth, the key blow Amelia Novitsky’s two-run single, but it was immediately followed by Mondello again hitting one deep for her second home run of the afternoon.
All this, plus a sixth-inning single, complemented what Mondello did in the pitcher’s circle. Though far from perfect – she allowed four hits and two walks – she constantly prevented bigger rallies and amassed 16 strikeouts to run her season total to 192.
And the reward for Marcellus? A sectional final Tuesday against someone quite familiar to Mustangs fans.
Utica Notre Dame, the top seed, will face Marcellus after it ended the run of Solvay in the other semifinal, a 6-0 game marked by a no-hitter from Jugglers pitcher Erin Trinkaus.
This was the same Trinkaus who led UND to the state Class B championship in girls basketball in the winter after pulling out an epochal victory over Marcellus in the sectional finals.
Trying to stop the Jugglers, the no. 5 seed Bearcats saw freshman pitcher Jenna Wing pitch three scoreless innings to keep it 0-0 until Trinkaus tripled to ignite a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth.
Two more runs followed, but the bigger story what what Trinkaus did in the pitcher’s circle. Only one Solvay runner reached base as Trinkaus struck out 13 and rarely allowed the ball to get outside the infield.
