Three runs scored on an Ellery Ensign double in the fifth inning to give No. 8 Marathon the lead for good in a 5-3 win over No. 9 Richfield Springs/Owen D. Young Thursday at Appleby Elementary School in the first round of the Section IV Class D softball tournament.
Marathon was down 2-1 when Ensign stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth. She hit a blooper that dropped between the second baseman and right fielder. The right fielder missed the catch and the ball got by, allowing a third run to score.
“To be honest, I was just praying to god that it was going to go out there,” Ensign said. “Once everyone started running in, it was kind of hard to believe. But I knew they were going to get across home plate one way or another.”
Ensign was 0-for-2 prior to the game-winning hit, and she was letting head coach Jamie Bush know she was frustrated. After the senior got the big hit, she was back in the game.
“After her plate appearance before that hit she came off the field upset with herself,” Bush said. “‘I’m sick of it. I’m through with this.’ Then she went up there and got that hit and I said, ‘Are you through with it now?’”
Ensign scored later in the inning on a single from Cassie Forrest.
Marathon was down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, then Melodie Sutton drove in courtesy runner Mara Crumb on a single to cut into the deficit.
Richfield Springs scored a run in the sixth, then put two runners on with two outs in the seventh, but Marathon pitcher Izzy Conklin forced a flyout to Ashlynn Layton in right field to close out the game.
The game took an hour and 19 minutes, with plenty of defense to go around. Marathon made a few errors but rebounded from them and made sure they didn’t compound, allowing the Olympians to keep Richfield Springs off the board.
“They made a mistake, kept playing and played through it,” Bush said. “Good things happen when you play through and don’t dwell on things.”
Bush has seen his girls lose games this year due to innings unravelling. In Thursday’s win, the Olympians showed their growth and played solid defense for all seven innings.
“The good thing is we’ve had to play that way all year, so the girls have gotten a lot of experience,” Bush said. “They’ve grown a ton and I’m only losing two seniors, so we’ve got girls who can field now heading into next year.”
Ensign finished with her double, two RBIs and a run scored, Marissa Allen notched two hits, a walk and a run scored, Forrest and Sutton each had two hits and an RBI, Conklin had a hit, a walk and a run scored, Audrey Jasper singled and scored a run, Haylee Chrysler scored once, Delaney Reilly had a hit and Brook Morsey walked once.
Conklin tossed all seven innings for Marathon, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Marathon advances to face No. 1 Deposit/Hancock at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in a quarterfinal matchup.
BASEBALL
CORTLAND 13, FULTON 1
Cortland posted nine runs in the bottom of the fourth to give Cortland the lead. Luke Rogoff led the way offensively, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
Caden Albright tripled, drove in three runs and scored once, Chris Yang went 2-for-2 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored, Austin Cotterill and Danny Jackson both notched a hit and a walk and scored once, Andrew Partigianoni had a hit, an RBI and scored twice, Ethan and Owen Johnson each drove in a run and scored once, Rowan Dankert walked and scored, Tyler Gilbert walked and drove in a run, Liam Woodard walked and scored and Evan Shank drew a walk.
Ethan Johnson tossed a complete game, allowing an earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts.
CORTLAND 8, FULTON 0
Cortland continued the onslaught in Game 2, with Albright going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Ethan Johnson also went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
Matteo Rabusin doubled and scored, Jackson had a hit, drew a walk, drove in a run and scored once, Robbie Atkins had a hit, drew a walk and drove in a run, Gilbert notched a hit, drew a walk and scored once, Shank and Yang each had a hit and scored once, Rogoff drew a walk and scored and Partigianoni had a hit.
Rogoff allowed four hits with four strikeouts in his seven innings of work.
HOMER 5, MEXICO 1
Mitchell Earle continued his dominance on the hill, striking out 16 batters and allowing one hit in seven frames to lead Homer to its fifth straight win. Earle is now sporting a 0.84 ERA in 41.2 innings with 94 strikeouts. The junior had double digit strikeouts in his last seven starts, with a nine-strikeout game in his first start against Cortland being his only one in single figures.
Anderson Read had an RBI fielder’s choice and Eli McMahon notched an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to help Homer create some separation.
Read lead the way, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, Noah Young tallied a hit, a walk and two runs scored, Maddox Johnson had a hit and two runs scored, McMahon had a hit and an RBI, Earle had a hit and a walk, Padraig Andrews drove in a run and Evan Sullivan walked and scored.
SOFTBALL
HOMER 20, MEXICO 10
Karigan Quaile hit two home runs as part of a 3-for-5 day in Homer’s big win. Quaile also had five RBIs and four runs scored. The Trojans scored nine runs in the sixth inning to blow the game open.
Catherine Apker, Cece Rappleyea and Melina Hage hit one home run apiece for the Trojans. Apker finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored, Rappleyea was 2-for-4 with a walk, three RBIs and three runs scored and Hage was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Ally Verfuss doubled, drove in two runs and scored once, Alex Kellaway was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, Jenna Henderson and Lyla Read both had a hit, an RBI and a run scored, Kaylee Darling had a hit and an RBI and Brooke Casterline drew a walk.
No. 7 BAINBRIDGE-GUILFORD 13, No. 10 GROTON 12
Elisa Allen went 4-for-4 with two home runs, two doubles, a walk and three runs scored, but Groton allowed seven runs in the fifth inning and lost in the first round of the Section IV Class C tournament.
Delaney Ayer also went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored, Devyn Blasz was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, Alexis Stone finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored, Kate Allen doubled and scored a run, Jill Zigenfus and Sharla Lockwood had a hit, walked and scored twice and Alyssa DeForrest had a hit and scored once.
MADISON 11, DERUYTER 6
Madison scored six runs in the top of the second inning to distance itself from DeRuyter.
BOYS LACROSSE
SKANEATELES 20, TULLY/F-P 8
Jacob Verbanic scored twice and Mikey Reid notched a goal and an assist, but Tully/F-P lost every quarter.
Braden Switzer notched a goal and an assist, Nathan Reid, Harper Shaw, Louis Bennett and Tristan Hendricks all scored once, Lane Greczyn tallied two assists and Dan Garback added an assist. Shaw went 18-for-28 on face-offs and got six ground balls, Mikey Reid also picked up six ground balls, Nathan Reid and Hendricks both collected two ground balls and Greczyn, Switzer, David Lyons, Kaleb Riehlman, Colden Ives and Steven Pierce all got one.
Payton Bliss made 10 saves and Evan Drake stopped three shots for the Black Knights.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
BASEBALL
McGraw at General Brown, 5 p.m. today
No. 10 Delhi/Downsville at No. 7 Moravia, 4:30 p.m. today
SOFTBALL
Bishop Grimes at Tully, 4:30 p.m. today
TRACK & FIELD
Homer at Cicero-North Syracuse, 4:30 p.m. today
DeRuyter at Onondaga, 10 a.m. Saturday
Moravia at Johnson City, 10 a.m. Saturday
GIRLS GOLF
Marathon, Moravia at Odessa-Montour, 4 p.m. today at Hillendale Golf Course
