Four times in May, the Fayetteville-Manlius softball team has come up with no-hit performances, even when it wasn’t always winning.
But when the Hornets blanked Corcoran 8-0 on Thursday afternoon, it took that effort to a new level as Amy Bright and Maddie Gerbig teamed up for a perfect game.
Twenty-one Cougar batters came to the plate — and all 21 were retired. Bright pitched five of those innings, striking out 14 of 15 hitters, and Gerbig chimed in with three strikeouts during her two-inning stint.
Offensively, F-M didn’t break it open until a four-run fourth inning, though it finished with 11 hits. Katherine Thomas and Stephanie Brunet each had three hits, with
Thomas getting three RBIs as Bright, Gerbig and Kristen Carey drove in one run apiece. Nora Gallagher had three
walks as Meg Stoeckel scored a pair of runs.
Four days earlier, Bright delivered a no-hitter against West Genesee. Despite this, though, the Hornets lost, 2-1, to the Wildcats, victimized by untimely mistakes.
Twice, F-M committed errors which, combined with four walks, negated Bright’s 18 strikeouts and led to WG scoring in the second and sixth innings.
Down 2-0, the Hornets would get a run in the bottom of the sixth, Stoeckel earning the RBI, but not catch up as Wildcat pitcher Ashley Amidon earned 11 strikeouts for her side.
At least on Wednesday, the Hornets got back to winning in an 18-0 romp over Nottingham. Bright split pitching duties with Maddie Gerbig and, while they allowed three total hits (Bright struck out 10 in four innings), it hardly mattered.
F-M got runs in every inning except the second, including five-run outbursts in the sixth and seventh to get away. Carey and Patricia Miller each scored three runs, with Stoeckel and Gallagher getting two RBIs apiece. Stoeckel and Brunet had two-hit outings as Sophie Long and Haley Wheeler joined Gerbig and Brunet with single RBIs.