Herkimer, NY - The Softball team traveled East
for the Regional Final series against the Herkimer Generals for a spot in the 2023 NJCAA Softball World Series. The best of three series ended in two, as well as the Lazers' season after falling to the Generals with 4-3 and 7-1 final scores.
Game 1 was a battle of the pitchers, resulting in several scoreless innings.
Trista DeLong held the mound for the Lazers, shutting down the Herkimer offense.
The Lazers found the board first scoring 1 run from
Carley Cinquemani in the 2nd inning on an RBI from
Olivia Colgan. But Herkimer responded with 3 runs in the 3rd on two Lazer errors.
After three more scoreless innings, Onondaga entered the top of the 7th down by 2 runs.
Sophia D'Arcangelis led off and started Onondaga's rally with a base hit. With a walk from
Avree Salce, D'Arcangelis was in scoring position with
Zoe White to the plate. White found a gap in the outfield smacking a line drive to score D'Arcangelis. Cinquemani did the same to score Salce to tie it all up. Unable to take the lead, the Lazers had to defend for a chance to take game 1 in extra innings.
DeLong took care of the first batter getting a ground out for out number 1. After a base hit line drive for Herkimer's winning run on first, the next batter flew out to right field for a catch from
Zoe White and what looked to be a double play catching the runner at first, and to end the 7th inning in a 3-3 tie, was called safe by the umpire, giving the Generals another shot. With 2 outs, the Generals found gaps to score a walk off in the 7th for a 4-3 final score in game 1.
Game 2 kicked off at 4:45 with a chance to regroup. With
Bianca DeSellems on the mound, both teams were shut out in the first two innings. With Onondaga as the home team in game 2, the Generals took first at-bats. Putting bat to ball in the 3rd, the Generals scored 5 runs for the lead and forced the Lazers to return to DeLong on the mound. Onondaga was unable to respond until the 5th inning where they scored 1 run on an RBI from
Zoe White.
With DeLong gassed, Bob Bates went to
Aubrey Fraher to try to shut down Herkimer's offense while trying to scrape back some runs. But the Generals scored 2 more in the 6th due to Lazer errors. With a 7-1 score in bottom of the 7th, and the Lazers last attempt at staying alive, Herkimer returned to their ace to shut out the Lazers in the bottom of the inning, ending their season.
Region III All-Tournament Team:
Trista DeLong
Aubrey Fraher
First Team All-Region:
Bianca DeSellems
Second Team All-Region:
Zoe White
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