With a stirring comeback, the East Syracuse-Minoa softball team jumped into first place in the OHSL Freedom division. The Spartans trailed Phoenix going into the top of the seventh inning last Monday afternoon, but made it all the way back to beat the Firebirds 4-3. Single runs in the first three innings gave Phoenix a 3-0 edge. From there, though, Mallory Martino shut the door, giving ESM a chance to stay in it. A run in the fifth inning helped, but the Spartans still trailed 3-1 going into the top of the seventh. Three outs from defeat, ESM instead tagged Jill Murphy for three runs to surge in front, and Martino made that lead stick. Angela Somers had two of the Spartans’ nine hits, joining Chelsea Casciano and Andee Fox in the RBI column, too. That momentum didn’t even last 24 hours, though, as Jamesville-DeWitt showed up on Tuesday and stunned the Spartans 6-4. Only at 3-6 this season, J-D pounced upon the cold conditions and the fact that Martino wasn’t pitching in them. The Red Rams got all six of its runs off ESM hurlers Erin Welch and Lauren Adams in the first two innings. Sarah Gianni earned two RBIs, while Jenny Keeler also drove in a run. On the mound, despite the Spartans scoring twice in the fifth and sixth innings, it would not catch up as a new pitching threat, Meghan Engstrum, went all seven innings to get the win.