CENTRAL NEW YORK – Once again all the snow was gone and area high school softball could get underway, with some teams able to get in their first games of the season.
This included Fayetteville-Manlius, who visited Chittenango last Thursday afternoon for the first of what it hoped would be three games in a span of less than 48 hours.
The Hornets handled the Bears 8-3, taking charge with two-run rallied in the first and third innings and getting away for good with four more runs in the top of the sixth.
Avilene Terry’s pair of hits led to three RBIs. Megan Woodridge and Anna Egan also got two hits, with Samantha Monroe, Katie Knapp and Reagan Webb joining Woodridge in the RBI column as Alexis Hamilton pitched a complete game.
Then F-M fell 4-2 to Rome Free Academy on Friday afternoon, the Hornets taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on Woodridge’s triple, her second of the game, which scored Webb and Knapp.
But the Black Knights tied it in the bottom of the fifth and scored twice in the sixth off Alexis Hamilton and Malea Coates to go in front for good. Terry maintained her hot streak at the plate going three-for-three.
Also getting a win on Friday, Christian Brothers Academy shut out Westhill 3-0 in a game that was scoreless for five innings as Gracie Battles matched zeroes with Warriors pitcher Samantha Snyder.
Then the Brothers got to Snyder for two runs in the top of the sixth, adding an insurance run in the seventh. Allison Boule and Mari Catherine Giamartino both got credit for an RBI. Battles limited Westhill to two hits while striking out seven.
Beginning its final season before the school’s closing, Bishop Grimes had quite an all-around effort in its season opener, handling Tully by a score of 16-5.
What made it more remarkable was that the Black Knights led most of the way and still took a 4-1 advantage to the fifth. Then the Cobras scored two runs there and erupted for six runs in the top of the fifth.
Four-run outbursts in the sixth and seventh innings sealed it as Ruby Butler doubled twice and finished with five RBIs. Elizabeth Corl got a triple and three RBIs, with Phoebe Carroll earning a single, double and four runs scored.
East Syracuse Minoa found itself overwhelmed last Thursday in a 26-2 defeat to Whitesboro, who peaked with a 15-run third inning as Addison Cook had a home run, triple, double and six RBIs. Ava Burry and Sydney Gurniak managed to drive in the Spartans’ runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
