OBSERVER Photo by Lisa Monacelli Chautauqua Lake baserunner Chadelynn Johnson slides safely into home with a home run under the tag of Fredonia catcher Grace Mroczka Friday during a high school softball game.

In what ended up as her final regular season at-bat of her high school softball career, Chautauqua Lake’s Cameryn Hawkins had a moment to remember.

Hawkins drilled a game-winning, two-run home run to deep center field as the Lady Thunderbirds claimed the CCAA Division 1 West high school softball league title Friday at Fredonia High School, beating the reigning champs of Fredonia, 7-6.

“All that was going through my mind was that base hits win games. All I wanted was a base hit … but that was the cherry on top,” said Hawkins. “It was amazing. … It was something I will never forget.”

Chautauqua Lake coach Sue Teets had actually considered bunting to move the runner over, after Cianna Braymiller was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on base in the seventh inning. Teets decided against it and gave her only senior on the team a chance to hit — and it paid off.

“(I felt) total elation,” said Teets. “I was going to bunt her to get Cianna (Braymiller) over (into scoring position) in a tight game. … It could not have happened to someone better than Cameryn. She’s a hard worker, she’s dedicated, she’s the one that’s always getting the team up in the dugout. … For that to happen to her, for a league championship in a tough division, is a great thing for her in her senior year.”

Chautauqua Lake (10-2) trailed 1-0 in the first inning after an RBI single by Grace Mroczka put Fredonia ahead. The Lady Thunderbirds came back to take a 2-1 lead on a two-run triple in the top of the second inning by Chadelynn Johnson. Katelyn Fardink followed with an RBI single to make the score 3-1 for Chautauqua Lake.

Fredonia (11-3, 9-3) scored once in the bottom of the third to make it 3-2, but left two runners stranded on base. Through three innings, Fredonia stranded four baserunners.

The Lady Thunderbirds struck once again in the fourth inning, with a two-out home run by Johnson — her second extra base hit in as many opportunities — to put Chautauqua Lake up 4-2 in the top of the fourth.

The defending champs would not go quietly, as Fredonia answered with a four-run fourth inning to take a 6-4 lead. A pair of errors led to the first run, followed by RBI singles from Kazlin Beers, Cassie Essek and Sydney Bigelow in the inning.

After both teams had a scoreless fifth inning, Chautauqua Lake added a run in the sixth inning to make the score 6-5, but Liv Anderson — Chautauqua Lake’s starter in the circle — grounded out to leave two runners on base. Anderson did the same to Fredonia in the bottom half, however, stranding two on base with a strikeout to end the inning.

That all set up the seventh inning — one final frame in the regular season to decide the league champion. That’s when Hawkins delivered the moment of her career.

“I feel amazing,” said Hawkins. “I wanted it more than anything, for our team, our coaches … I hope we can keep it up in the playoffs because that was a great game.”

Anderson allowed the tying run on base in the seventh inning, but finished off the Lady ‘Billies with back-to-back strikeouts of Maddy Marsh and Hannah Gullo to end the game.

The one-run, back-and-forth game for the league title embodied the league as a whole during the regular season. Three teams — Chautauqua Lake, Dunkirk and Fredonia — all had legitimate shots to win the title. It was only fitting to have the final inning of play decide the champion.

“That’s the way it should be,” said Fredonia coach Jesse Beers. “Two really good teams brawling right to the end, it’s really a shame anybody had to lose a game like that.”

“This is a great lesson in not giving up. You’re never out of a game,” said Teets. “Everybody got their money’s worth today.”

Both teams look ahead to playoffs now, as each team is projected a favorable seed in next week’s rankings. It would be a surprise if either team did not host a first round playoff game.

“This is a great building block as we go into playoffs,” said Teets, who added that playing larger schools in a tough division during the regular season helps prepare her team for a deep playoff run in Class C.

“The girls will relish this for a while,” said Teets. “But then we’re right back to work. We’re never satisfied.”

Fredonia, as crushing as Friday’s defeat was, takes the loss as experience headed into playoffs.

“I told my girls in the circle after the game there’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Beers. “This is a great precursor to the run we’re going to make in the playoffs.”

Twitter: @bradencarmen