CENTRAL NEW YORK – Bad weather last week was the precise reason why the Cazenovia and Chittenango softball teams had all-weather fields in which it could play.
Still, it affected the schedule following last Monday’s pair of games where the Lakers and Bears both broke the 20-run barrier on the way to easy victories.
Cazenovia got its big total at Gutchess Park where it pasted Homer 21-4, getting a run in every inning except the third as, after the Trojans cut it to 5-4 in the third, it got away in the latter stages.
A five-run sixth inning and nine-run seventh inning provided the getaway, with Sophia Wilmot belting a home run as she and Madden Cobb both finished with three RBIs.
Caitee Fenton’s double and three singles helped her drive in four runs, with Gianna Comino and Layla Decker earning two RBIs apiece. Madison Weeks, Irie Gallerani and Emma Falso each got one RBI, Fenton and Cobb both scoring four runs. Gallerani pitched a complete game, overcoming seven walks with 13 strikeouts.
Chittenango got even more runs romping past Cortland 24-0, striking for six runs in the top of the first and then nearly batting around twice with 13 runs in the second inning.
Hannah Machan and Julia Spencer each went four-for-four with four RBIs, Machan getting a double and Spencer a triple. Alivia Cavotta also had four hits in four trips to the plate, driving in three runs.
Lauren Machan, Annabelle Granata and Isabelle Batalina-McClusky drove in two runs apiece. Julianna Coon had three hits and scored four runs, Hannah Cretaro matching Hannah Machan scoring three times. Spencer pitched again and struck out eight, only allowing one hit.
Playing on its turf Friday, Cazenovia found itself in a far closer game against Fabius-Pompey but managed to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Falcons.
The Lakers bolted out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Comino and Mikayla Streator had run-scoring hits, with Fenton, Bliss and Wilmot all crossing the plate.
F-P pulled even with its own three-run rally in the fifth and it stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Wilmot and Comino walked to bring up Gallerani, who singled to right, scoring Wilmot to win it.
It only figured that Gallerani finished it off, since her pitching had mostly stifled the Falcons. All F-P could get was one hit off Gallerani, who struck out 10 without surrendering a walk.
For the most part, area baseball teams were sidelined, but Cazenovia did play last Thursday on its turf against Marcellus, unable to sustain a big lead in a game called at 10-10 due to darkness.
Five runs in the fourth inning and four more runs in the fifth erased an early 2-1 deficit as Carter Bowden and Zane Ison both got two RBIs, with Joey Awald and Elliot Stratton adding RBIs. Nico Segall scored three runs.
Despite all this, the Lakers’ 10-2 lead didn’t hold as the Mustangs struck for eight runs in the top of the sixth off Segall and Ison after Danny Bliss pitched the first 4 2/3 innings with four hits and eight walks allowed.
