The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida wins battle of unbeatens with J-D
Sophomore throws six solid innings, drives in go-ahead runs
ONEIDA, N.Y.>> The Oneida softball team came back from a long holiday weekend with a tough test on Monday, welcoming a Jamesville-DeWitt squad to town that had outscored its opponents 54-3 in its first three games of the season.
The hosts weren’t intimidated.
Winning pitcher Kyra Shlotzhauer allowed just two unearned runs over six innings and hit a go-ahead tworun double in the bottom of the fifth inning while Kylie Chesebro struck out the side in a pressure-packed seventh to close out a 4-2 victory in a rematch of last year’s Section III Class A final.
“This is oneof the best teams in the state,” said Oneida coach Mike Curro of the Red Rams. “They’re well coached, they’re an outstanding team. They put pressure on us and we got out of some big jams. They got out of some jams too but this it the type of softball game that we needed to show what we were worth and our worth is great. We’re a good team.”
Shlotzhauer worked in and out of trouble throughout the game, only allowing two unearned runs on four walks and five hits. The Red Rams had been averaging 17 runs and nearly 17 hits per game.
Monday’s matchup was be--
tween two teams that are more accustomed to facing each other in early June as opposed to mid-April. Oneida and J-D have combined to win six of the last seven Section III Class A titles and have played each other five times in the final over that span. This year, Curro’s squad moved to Class B so the teams instead faced off the day after Easter.
“Coach (Jeffrey) Cantor and I were talking like ‘who put the game after Easter?’” said Curro. “I gave the kids the weekend off to spend with their families and they came in with the right mentality. We came in at 9:30, a little early to get some of the poison out.”
His teamcertainly wasn’t sluggish, immediately putting the pressure on Red Rams’ starter Amanda Sumida. Brianna Laureti worked a one- out walk and Hannah Begay followed with a single. Natalie Marshall came through with an RBI single to score Laureti and put the hosts ahead 1-0. Oneida couldn’t add to that lead, however, as J-D turned a 6-4-3 double play on a ground ball hit by Shlotzhauer to limit the damage.
The hosts needed a big double play of their own to preserve that lead in the top of the second. Sarina Alexander walked with one out before Amanda Sumida singled, with an error sending her to third on the play. Alexander stole second to give the Red Rams two runners in scoring position with one out for Mary Austin, who tapped the ball back in front of the plate. Oneida catcher Hannah Begay retired her with a throw down to Chesebro at first and she fired the ball back to the plate where Begay tagged Alexander out at home for an inning-ending double play.
Shlotzhauer worked out of another jam in the top of the third, walking three straight batters with two outs to load the bases. She againescaped, getting apop out to Lauren Skibitski at second to keep the score 1-0.
“I just had to think for myself, think that there wasn’t runners on,” said the sophomore. “We had a lead so if we were going to let a runner get to third and we had two outs, hey, let’s just go get her at one. It’s just a matter of having confidence in the circle and that’s what we’ve always worked on as a team.”
Oneida tacked on another run in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a leadoff single from Shlotzhauer. Courtesy runner Kaylin Curro stole second two batters later and Emily Marshall ripped a two-out RBI double to score her and extend the lead to 2-0.
J-D came back to tie the score in the top of the fifth. Paige Keeler started the rally with a one- out hit before Makenzie Keeler reached on a fielder’s choice that resulted in the second out. Alexis LeClair walked before Shayna Myshrall hit a sharp grounder back up the middle. Shlotzhauer grabbed the ball but her throw hit off Chesebro’s glove, allowing Makenzie Keeler to score fromsecond. Amanda Sumida followed with an RBI single, scoring LeClairwith the game-tying run. Shlotzhauer got out of the inning with the score still knotted at 2-2 with a groundout to Laureti at shortstop.
Oneida’s offense wasted no time getting back out in front. Skibitski, Laureti and Begay hit three straight singles to start the bottom of the fifth before Sumida got a strikeout to bring Shlotzhauer to the plate. The junior lined a shot over the center fielder’s head, scoring Skibitski and Laureti to give the hosts a 4-2 advantage.
“During the year I haven’t been doing thatwellwith the bat so to get two RBI for our team, it gave us a lot of confidence,” said Shlotzhauer.
She showed that confidence in the circle with a perfect frame in the top of the sixth before her teamalmost gave her another run in the home half of the inning. Skibitski started a two-out rally with an infield single and stole second with Laureti batting. Laureti added an infield single of her own but Skibitski was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the play, sending the game to the seventh with Oneida still leading by two.
J-D quickly put the tying runs on base in its final turn at bat when Paige and Makenzie Keeler led offwith back-to-back singles. Curro then turned the ball over to Chesebro.
“We wanted Kyra to ride it out but it’s that third time around in any kind of baseball/softball game where you’ve seen her, you’ve timed her, you’ve got it,” said Curro. “The two complement each other so well. Kyra is one type of pitcher where Kylie’s a totally different type of pitcher.”
That change of pace benefited Oneida. Chesebro struck out the first two batters she faced before Amanda Sumida worked a walk to extend the game and load the bases. Chesebro came right back to strike Alexander out swinging to end the game.
“Just don’t let any runs score, get them all out,” said Chesebro. “I’ve got the defense to help me out to though.
“Definitely my curveball and my screwball, just hitting the corners.”
Oneida improved to 4-0 with the victory while J-D suffered its first loss, falling to 3-1.
“They didn’t hang,” said Curro of his team. “They came right back and created an inning and put two up. That right there in itself is just outstanding.
“I’m ecstatic. The answer back was the most important thing I’ve seen us do all year. Thatwas outstanding.”