CENTRAL NEW YORK – Any path to a Section III Class B softball championship still goes through Marcellus, who perched itself at no. 5 in last week’s state Class B rankings.
The Mustangs were set to face rival Skaneateles last Wednesday afternoon but it got rained out. However, it dried up enough so that Marcellus could play Jordan-Elbridge on Thursday and put together an 11-1 victory over the Eagles.
Striking quickly, Marcellus got five runs off Abby DelFavero in the bottom of the first inning and didn’t let up from there, ultimately getting 12 hits, three of them from Millie Novitsky, who scored twice and added an RBI.
Kendall LaMarche not only pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts, she also singled, doubled and drove in three runs. Maddie Richer added two RBIs as Jillian O’Connor and Zofia Polkowski each had one RBI. Isabella Jay led J-E with two hits and scored her team’s lone run in the fourth inning on Cameron Fraher’s single.
Idle until Saturday, Marcellus returned in strong form and beat Cazenovia 8-2, with LaMarche striking out nine in her latest complete-game effort. Janzen Long and Carly Sears each earned three RBIs as the Mustangs scored in five of the first six innings.
Back on Monday afternoon, Skaneateles took a 6-2 record into its game against J-E, only to have the Eagles go in front early and use a big fourth inning to put away the Lakers 9-1.
Not content with the pair of runs it scored in the first J-E batted around in the fourth for seven decisive runs, the big blow a double by Ava Bloodgood that produced three RBIs.
DelFavero, who struck out nine and limited Skaneateles to four hits, had three hits at the plate plus an RBI. Fraher, Brielle Whiten and Alyssa Woytowich also drove in runs as Brooke Chiaramonte walked three times and scored twice.
Back on the diamond Saturday, Skaneateles got back in the win column, too, outscoring Phoenix 11-9.
Leading 6-3 in the top of the fifth, the Lakers saw the Firebirds erupt for six runs to go in front, but answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and, still trailing 9-8, scored three times in the sixth to take the lead for good.
Carly Schell went four-for-five at the plate, scored three times and drove in a run. Samantha Shaw added three hits as she and Norah Zapata both had a pair of RBIs. Olivia Vance and Scarlett Georgianna gained two hits apiece.
Off until Saturday, Westhill ran into state Class A no. 13-ranked Chittenango and lost 15-6 to the Bears, who broke open a close game with a seven-run sixth inning. Sophia Johnson, in defeat, went three-for-four and scored three runs as Samantha Snyder got a pair of RBIs. Grace Horning, Lily Schmitz and Sydney Medeiros had two hits apiece.
Then Westhill faced J-E, and the Eagles pulled it out 5-4 with a stunning rally in the bottom of the seventh as it scored four times to erase a 4-1 Warriors advantage.
DelFavero, Brooke Chiaramonte and Isabella Jay all had RBIs as part of J-E’s comeback. Madilynn Moch scored twice as Snyder and Horning both had two hits and an RBI to pace Westhill.
Bishop Ludden played a doubleheader that same day and lost both sides of it to Pulaski, dropping the first game 13-7 and the second game 15-7 to drop its overall record to 2-7.
