Syracuse, NY - Onondaga Softball hosted their home opener against the Hawks of Mohawk Valley. The teams split the series with Onondaga taking game 1 and the Hawks taking game 2.

Sydney Puttkamer started on the mound for the Lazers in game 1. Puttkamer grabbed an early fly out for out number one. But the Hawks put up a couple runs on the board in the 1st on a successful sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. A strikeout ended the top of the inning to give the Lazers a chance to respond. The Lazers put the ball in play in teh bottom of the 1st but were unable to string together any runs with one runner left on base.

Puttkamer kicked off the 2nd inning with a strikeout, followed by two doubles for the Hawks to follow to score a run in the top of the inning. Puttkamer started things off in the bottom of the inning leading off with a base hit through the infield. She made her way around to score after a trio of Hawk errors, putting up the Lazers first run. The Lazers juiced up the bases after a few walks but left 3 runners on after a baserunning error to end the inning. 

Puttkamer added two more strikeouts and held the Hawks scoreless in the top of the 3rd. Paige Glassford led off the inning with a single, knocked in by Puttkamer for her first RBI of the day, ending the inning trailing 3-2.

A scoreless top of the 4th for the Hawks kept the Lazers within reach. Avalon Millard gave the Lazers their first lead with a base clearing double in the bottom of the 4th followed by a Paige Glassford in the park homerun for a 5-3 lead. 

A fly ball lost in the sun allowed a Hawk run in the top of the 5th bringing them back within a run, followed by a fly ball dropped in right field tied it up 5-5. Another misread in the outfield allowed another Hawk run, ending the inning with the Lazers trailing 6-5. The Lazers left a runner on base with a scoreless bottom of the 5th.

The Hawks manufactured a run in the top of the 6th on a Lazer error with two outs, leading 7-5. Paige Glassford knocked in Ava Falvo on a hard hit line drive for a run with two outs in the bottom of the 6th followed by a 2-RBI triple from Erin LaVancha to reclaim the Lazers' lead, 8-7.

A sacrifice bunt moved the tying Hawks runner to third with two outs in the top of the 7th, Puttkamer ended the game with a strikeout and the Lazers' first win, 8-7.

The Lazers went to bat first in game 2 as the visiting team. Glassford was the first baserunner for the Lazers reaching second on a Hawks error, followed by Puttkamer on a walk, and Erin LaVancha on another Hawks error. Grace Hoey came to the plate to try to do some damage with bases loaded. A walk from Hoey pushed in the Lazers first run of the game. Lily Stevens earned herself an RBI after a dropped hard hit ball to center field. LaVancha put up another run for the Lazers on a sacrifice fly. The Hawks manufactured a run in the bottom of the inning after being hit by starting pitcher, Lily Stevens. Stevens grabbed a strikeout for out number two after the lone Hawks run scored in the 1st.

Glassford reached first base in the top of the 2nd with two outs taking a pitch to the leg. A Hawks error costed them another run getting Glassford home and extending their lead, 4-1. Hawks curated baserunners manufacture a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 2nd. An RBI single earned the Hawks another run before a mound visit for the Lazers. A sac bunt tied it up 4-4 and earned the Lazers their first out of the inning. Hits all around resulted in the Hawks taking the lead, 5-4 in the 2nd inning before Puttkamer returned to the mound. A bases loaded walk and a Lazer error capped off the 6-run inning for the Hawks.

The Hawks interrupted the Lazers momentum to start the 3rd inning with a double play after two straight batters reaching base. Kennedy Nash did punch in a run with her first hit of the game before the quick top of the inning ended with the Lazers now trailing 7-5. The Hawks scraped together no runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning, stranding two runners.

A LaVancha RBI double kept the Lazers scoring streak alive with two outs and cutting the Hawks lead to just 7-6. A double play ended the 4th inning for the Lazers on defense, keeping the Hawks scoreless for the second consecutive inning.

Tying run Lily Stevens led off the 5th with a single, pushed over to second on an Ella Friend sacrifice bunt, over to third on a Kennedy Nash single, and in to score on an Ava Falvo single to tie it up 7-7. Another run scored on a passed ball gave the Lazers an 8-7 lead headed into the bottom of the 5th. A two out double put runners in scoring position for the Hawks in the bottom of the inning before scoring the tying run on a popup that dropped in front of the Lazer defense. Puttkamer held the Hawks at 8 ending the inning with a strikeout.

A new Hawks pitcher entered the game in the top of the 6th. LaVancha started off the inning with a one out triple, 60 feet away as the lead run. Followed by a strikeout, Stevens came to the plate with a chance to drive in the lead run. LaVancha got the job done herself coming home on a wild pitch, clinching the lead in the top of the 6th. The Hawks led off the inning with a single off Puttkamer on the mound for another inning of work followed by an RBI double to tie it at 9. The Hawks jumped out in front on an RBI single with Puttkamer starting to feel the fatigue. With bases load, another Hawks runner scored on a fly ball to center field followed by a 2-RBI single to go up 13-9 with two outs. 

The Lazers trailed 13-9 in the top of the 7th. An Ella Friend walk started the inning with a baserunner followed by an error. Advanced by an Ava Falvo ground out, two Lazer runners reached scoring position. Two runs punched in by the Lazers made the score 13-11 with two outs and the tying run at the plate. Puttkamer hit an RBI triple making it 13-12 and just 60 feet away as the tying run. But a popout ended the game with the Lazers a run short and the Hawks securing the victory. 

The Lazers are on the road at Genesee Community College this Saturday, April 5th at 12pm.

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