OBSERVER Photo by Ron Szot Dunkirk’s Kaitlyn Davis (12) approaches home plate after hitting a home run in Thursday’s softball game against City Honors. Her teammates and head coach Michelle Gilmour, right, head to the plate to greet her.

The No. 3-seeded Dunkirk Lady Marauders (13-5) won comfortably over the No. 6- seeded City Honors Centaurs, 9-1, to start the Section 6 Class B-1 high school softball playoffs Thursday.

Monica Pokoj pitched a complete game five-hitter with 10 strikeouts for Dunkirk, Kaitlyn Davis bashed a home run, and Emilee Hanlon smacked a two-run double in a game in which the Lady Marauders were never really threatened.

“Our girls definitely came to play today,” Dunkirk head coach Michelle Gilmour said. “We were disappointed with our finishing games in league, so we knew we needed to get back into the swing of things. I felt like offensively, defensively and pitching wise we did that.

“It was a great team victory,” Gilmour continued. “It was what I expected. I expected us to come out and play a team softball game and that was essentially what we did. … I also said, this is the start for us, we have to keep on pushing.”

Dunkirk pushed across its first run in the second inning. Pokoj walked (Adina William came in as her courtesy runner), Kymi Nance hit an infield single, then Olivia Smith reached base on an error to load the bases with no one out. City Honors pitcher Iris Kahris did an admirable job of pitching out of the jam, retiring the next three batters, but did throw a wild pitch that allowed William to score.

Davis hit her home run in the next inning, a solo shot that barely cleared the center field fence to make it 2-0 in favor of the Lady Marauders.

In the fourth inning, Olivia Yerico-Piazza hit a one-out single, then advanced to third on a two-base throwing error on a ball hit by Ashley Gotowka. Hanlon came up next to hammer a pitch off the left-field fence, scoring Yerico-Piazza and Gotowka for a 4-0 lead.

Dunkirk blew the game open in the fifth frame with a two-out rally for three runs. Nance crashed a shot off the left-field fence for a triple, then Smith hit a dying popup that the City Honors second baseman almost made a circus catch on. But the ball popped out of her glove and Nance ran home. Yerico-Piazza singled Smith to third base and took second without a throw, then Gotowka dropped a single in front of the left fielder. The ball was booted around a bit in the outfield, and Yerico-Piazza and Smith both scored.

After Phoebe Elardo doubled Kahris home to break up Pokoj’s shutout in the top of the sixth, Hanlon and Davis finished the scoring in the bottom half with runs scored on wild pitches.

“It’s been a rough season for everybody weatherwise. This was our ninth game of the season, it’s tough to go into a playoff game with only eight games under your belt,” City Honors head coach Deborah Matos said. The Centaurs finish their season with a 3-6 record.

“I’m proud of our kids,” Matos added. “We’re a very young team and I’m excited about our future. I thought today we came out there and hung in there and gave it a good shot…We’ll just get back to work and ready for next year.”

For Dunkirk, a matchup against old-time rival Fredonia, the No. 2 seed, looms in the next round.

Asked if playing Fredonia would give her team extra motivation, Gilmour responded, “Absolutely. They definitely didn’t have a good showing the second time we played them (an 8-3 Fredonia win), and they want to go back to how we played them the first game ( a 9-4 Dunkirk victory). I think they’re very determined to get back to that point and prove they are here to play, that they are a force to be reckoned with.”

NOTES: Elardo’s double was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Centaurs. … Second baseman Davis had a busy day in the field for the Lady Marauders, making or assisting on six putouts. … Hanlon wound up 1 for 2 with two walks and two stolen bases. … Yerico-Piazza was 2 for 3 and scored two runs. … Nance was 2 for 3 with a run scored.