Just in time, the Marcellus softball team produced its best effort of the season.
The slumping Mustangs went to streaking Westhill last Friday afternoon and, in a complete reversal of both team’s fortunes, earned a surprising 5-2 victory over the Warriors. Again, Warrior ace Toni Secreti appeared to be cruising along. But in the top of the third inning, the Mustangs got to her for four runs, three of them coming home on Meghan Witkowski’s bases-clearing double, just after Tabby McBride’s RBI put Marcellus up 1-0. Witkowski added another RBI in the fifth to make it 5-0. Westhill would chip away at that margin with run-scoring hits by Andrea Golembiewski and Erica Lobello. But Marcellus pitcher Molly MacLachlan, who allowed nine hits, kept getting out of trouble thanks to a defense that only committed one error behind her. Earlier in the week, Marcellus lost to Jordan-Elbridge 5-2. Up 2-0, the Eagles gave up two runs in the sixth on Jessie Manahan’s triple as the Mustangs pulled even, 2-2, but it answered with three runs in the top of the seventh to win it. Katie Byrnes and Natalie Andrianos led J-E with two RBIs apiece as Byrnes doubled and Andrianos tripled. Rouse scored a pair of runs and also pitched a complete game, allowing six hits but striking out eight. MacLachlan took the loss. The Mustangs’ struggles continued Thursday in an 11-7 loss to Cazenovia. A wild second inning saw Marcellus fall behind 5-1, only to score five times and grab a 6-5 lead. That would not last, though, as the Lakers managed two runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to reclaim the lead, led by Korena Fenton and Taylor Malmsheimer, who produced five RBIs apiece. In defeat, Tabby McBride and Sophie Jackson each drove in two runs, with MacLachlan and Jessie Manahan getting single RBIs. So nothing indicated that, on Friday, things would turn around against Westhill, of all opponents. But they did, and the Mustangs had some momentum going into Saturday’s Phoenix Tournament. In the first round, the Mustangs met rival Skaneateles and beat the Lakers 6-2. The Mustangs trailed Skaneateles 2-1 before erupting for five runs in the top of the fifth inning, which proved decisive. Jessica Gonnella scored twice and earned two RBIs, while Witkowski, Becca Fabrizio and Courtney King also drove in runs. MacLachlan surrendered just four hits and one walk, striking out eight. In the finals against host Phoenix, the Mustangs lost 5-1, the Firebirds using three runs in the first inning and two runs in the third to pull through. Gonnella had a hit and scored her team’s lone run in the top of the fifth, but Marcellus managed just two hits overall against Phoenix pitchers Brittany Sears, who recorded 13 strikeouts as the Mustangs fell to 4-5 on the season.