Whether at the end of the season – or even at the beginning – any time the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse softball teams get together, it tends to be exciting and memorable. Such was the case once more Friday afternoon, when the Warriors and Northstars braved winter-like conditions for 10 innings without settling a single thing. Darkness cut the game short, with it still tied 4-4, and left everyone present anticipating the May 6 rematch at Gillette Field – which will be under the lights, so someone will have to win there, weather permitting. This was the season opener for both teams — and this after Liverpool knocked off CNS in last year’s thrilling Section III Class AA final. The two neighbors and rivals have dominated the local large-school ranks for much of the last 15 years. And even with the wind and cold temperatures on Friday, Liverpool and CNS delivered, on cue, another classic – even if it didn’t have any resolution. Liverpool’s new pitcher, Ashley Kovarik, kept CNS in check until the top of the third inning, when the Northstars scored three times. Just as quickly, the Warriors answered with its own three-run rally in the bottom of the third to pull even, 3-3. Again, the Northstars would pull ahead with a run in the fifth inning. Again, Liverpool tied it up, scoring a single tally in the sixth, and now the stalemate began. Through the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th innings, both teams would get chances to break the 4-4 tie, but neither would as Kovarik and CNS pitcher Sarah Salamone (who replaced Sydney O’Hara) got out of trouble. CNS finished with nine hits, to Liverpool’s eight. The Warriors’ total included Abby Romano’s home run as she added two RBIs. Tiffany Sampere also drove in a run. CNS’s Brittany Paul gave her team an RBI. Liverpool would turn around on Saturday, go to Oswego and beat the Buccaneers, 4-3, in another thrilling contest. Up 2-0, the Warriors watched Oswego score all its runs off pitching ace Tiffany Sampere in the bottom of the fourth, grabbing a 3-2 lead in the process. Refusing to panic, Liverpool tied it in the sixth, then pulled ahead with another run in the seventh as Sampere, who finished with 13 strikeouts, closed out the win. Carrie Stoddard’s single produced a pair of RBIs, while Sampere and Kovarik each drove in one run. Romano, Brianna Harris, Darci Muldoon and Stephanie VanDusen each scored one run. Liverpool has another road test on Monday, at Fayetteville-Manlius, as CNS is home for games later this week against Central Square and Baldwinsville.