The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida falls short in Class B final
Incredible season ends in heartache at Class B softball final
Despite a strong start Saturday against Eden, Oneida was unable to keep up the momentum in their title game against Ardsley, coming in second for the New York Public High School Athletic Association Class B title.
Not that they didn’t give it their all
s Oneida coach Mike Curro watched his players celebrate reaching the Class B softball final, he reminded them they were still one win away from every team’s ultimate goal after a 5-0 victory over Section VI champion Eden, a win that would ultimately prove to be elusive as the teamfell to Section I champion Ardsley in the final.
“Our season was a pop fly away from being done,” said Curro, referencing a thrilling postseason comeback win over Camden. “They focused so hard on getting past Eden and getting here, we didn’t know very much about Ardsley. We do now, they’re a good hitting team. You know, to get to this point, defensively,. and they know, you’veA got to play cleaner.”
Defensive struggles did Oneida in as the team committed six errors, leading to four unearned runs against Ardsley.
Offensively, Oneida struggled to string together hits against Ards
ley pitcher Gabby Krumper. Curro’s squad scattered just three hits over the first six innings - two by Lauren Skibitski - before Emily Marshall, Olivia Friend and Kyra Shlotzhauer strung together three straight singles to start the top of the seventh. Krumper got out of the jam with a 1-2-3 double play followed by a shutoutpreserving groundout to third that also sealed the title.
Curro noted after the game his team’s experience would help them become better people as they grow older.
“They’ve made our city proud, our school proud and I’m proud of them,” he added.
Shlotzhauer turned in a shutout performance in the circle to help Oneida reach the final, allowing six hits with three strikeouts and no walks against Eden. The senior also helped her own cause, driving in the game’s first run with an RBI single that scored her catcher Emily Marshall from second base in the bottom of the second inning.
“Getting up early, it gives us a little more breathing room defensively instead of getting all tensed up and making mistakes,” said Shlotzhauer. “Today we said we need to get up early and we need to score first.
“They were all pumped up and ready to go and we got the job done.”
Eden’s biggest scoring chance came in the top of the fourth with the Raiders still trailing 1- 0. Marissa Calloway hit a oneout double and was replaced by courtesy runner Kayla Vinovorski at second base. Kaitlyn Schmitz then reached on an error before a pop out by Courtney Schmitt. Jordan Lauer kept the rally going with a single to load the bases but Shlotzhauer got her biggest out of the game, striking Katie Zimmerman out with three straight offspeed pitches to get out of the jam with her team still in front.
“I was like ‘OK, I either need to get something done here or I need to get something easy for my team to get an out,” the senior said. “So once I got the strikeout I was like ‘heck yeah, let’s go. Let’s get the bats going.”
Oneida did just that in the home half of the fourth. Sydney Lusher led off with a walk before an infield single by Emily Marshall. Calloway retired the next two batters before Curro turned to Reilly White as a pitch hitter. The senior jumped on the first pitch she saw, driving a double to the game in left-center field to score both runners and extend Oneida’s lead to 3-0.
“My teammates always pick me up so I wanted to help them out too,” said White. “It’s that time where you don’t think and you just get in and the first pitch was there so I swung and I hit.
“It worked out really well.”
Curro credited White’s recent performance in practice for making it an easy choice to turn to her in the big spot.
“I’m always watching with intent and focus,” he said. “Reilly’s been swinging it well and the gut told me to go with her at that point and time.
“She had a great plan at the plate, she knew what she was looking for and she went out and had the big hit that put us up and gave us great breathing room.”
The Section III champion scratched across two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Lauren Skibitski singled with one out and scored on a Lusher double. Olivia Friend reached on an error two batters later, scoring Lusher and extending the lead to 5-0.
Calloway, who took the loss in the circle, allowed five runs on eight hits over her six innings, striking out five and walking two.
Shlotzhauer worked out of another jam in the top of the sixth after Calloway reached second on an error to lead off. Schmitz followed with a single and took second on the throw home, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. Shlotzhauer bore down again, getting the next two batters on infield popups before a groundout to Lusher at shortstop ended the inning.
The Raiders managed a two-out single by Lydia Kobie in the top of the seventh but Shlotzhauer induced another groundout to end the game and send her team to the finals, where it will face Section I champ Ardsely.
“We just have to go in and play like we’ve played any other game this year, not change our approach,” said Shlotzhauer. “We just have to go in with the same kind of gameplan that we’ve had all year and I think my team’s ready to do that.”