Last season the Dunkirk Lady Marauders (8-2, 7-0) saw their season come to a close to the Falconer Lady Golden Falcons (4-2) in the Section 6 Class B crossover game.
On Thursday, the Lady Marauders got some revenge by downing Falconer 9-0 in a CCAA Division 1 matchup.
After a quick 1-2-3 top half of the first, the Lady Marauders got to work with their bats to open up an early lead.
Article Photos
OBSERVER?Photo by Lisa Monacelli
Dunkirk’s Khee Nance, left, throws the ball to third baseman Nicole Balzer (16) for a force out as Falconer’s Shannon Gunnell (5) runs to third base during?Wednesday’s CCAA?Division 1 high school softball game.
Khee Nance reached on an error and then, with two outs, Katie Hanlon also reached on an error which resulted in Nance scoring.
"We've been having good first innings on the road," Dunkirk coach John Sliwa explained. "To try and get one of those big first innings at home, we made some adjustments to our pre-game warmups. We talked about hitting the ball hard and making other teams make plays to extend innings and we did just that."
Lacey Clark batted Hanlon in with a single followed by another Falconer error to put Joyce Bomasuto on base.
Next up, Brittany Collins crushed a double which plated two runs to make it 4-0 in favor of Dunkirk.
"The big hit in the inning came from Brittany Collins with a double," Sliwa said. "By our standards, Brittany has been hitting well, but for her own standards, she has been a little disappointed. It was nice to see her have a big game like she wanted."
The Lady Golden Falcons seemed to settle down defensively after the first inning with pitcher Shelby Overturf striking out the side in the third.
"We really settled down after the first inning," Falconer coach Paul Lombardo said. "Our pitcher has thrown a lot lately. In some of these situations the runs weren't her fault, so she has been doing a good job for us."
Opposite Overturf in the circle was Aldyn Carlson, who had an impressive performance herself as she had a no-hitter in tact in the the first three and two-thirds innings.
"It was a gutsy effort by Aldyn," Sliwa said of his senior hurler. "This was the first time this season that she has pitched in back-to-back games. She did a great job and we played some solid defense behind her which is something this team prides themselves on."
In the fourth and fifth, Carlson got herself into some jams, but was able to work her way out of them.
"In the fourth we had the bases loaded and Aldyn was able to get her way out of the jam," Sliwa said. "Then in the fifth, Falconer had a leadoff triple and we were able to work our way out."
Carlson finished allowing just three hits while striking out three.
As for the Lady Golden Falcons, those two chances would be as close as they team came to scoring.
"We were a little tentative at the plate early on," Lombardo said. "We preach to the girls to be aggressive, but I think we looked at too many good pitches go by."
In the bottom of the fifth, the Lady Marauders got their bats going once again when Alayna Carlson laced a double to lead off the inning.
Nance attempted a pair of bunts to move the runner, but was unsuccessful. What resulted was a crushing two-run home run to straightaway center field.
"Khee knew she was in an obvious sacrifice situation," Sliwa said. "When she wasn't able to get a bunt down, she really laid into one. That had to clear the fence by 15 feet."
Now up 6-0, Dunkirk continued to play light out and add a few more runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The three-run inning was highlighted by a pinch-hit RBI single by Alexis McWilson and a big double from Alayna Carlson.
"This is probably the fourth game in a row that Alexis has come in and got a hit," Sliwa said. "She knows what her role is and executes almost every time. As for Alayna, she was pounding the ball all game. She had a couple of outs, but they were hard outs. One of the line drive outs probably would have cleared the fence if it wasn't caught."
While Alayna Carlson went 2 for 4, Clark and Collins both went 2 for 3 in the victory.
For Falconer, Overturf had four strikeouts and scattered 10 hits in the loss.
Next up for the Lady Golden Eagles is a matchup with Allegany-Limestone on Friday while the Lady Marauders are set to take on Jamestown, also on Friday.
Jamestown 6, Gowanda 5
GOWANDA - The Jamestown Lady Red Raiders scored a run in the seventh inning to hold off the Gowanda Lady Panthers (4-8, 1-5), 6-5, Wednesday in CCAA Division 1 high school softball.
McKenzie Martin was the winning pitcher as she struck out two and did not allow a walk. She scattered seven hits in the process. Martin also had the game-winning RBI.
The Lady Panthers were led by Alexis Farner's three hits, including a home run.
Gowanda travels to Allegany-Limestone today.
