The Pittsford Mendon softball team had no problem earning the Section 5 Class A title in exciting fashion. After all, they had spent the entire Class A tournament winning in dramatic ways.
The Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overtake Mercy en route to a 5-3 victory in the finals Thursday at the College at Brockport. Mendon won their third straight Class A crown and defeated the Monarchs in the finals for the second consecutive season.
The Vikings opened the postseason by scoring two runs in the sixth inning for a 6-4 victory over Batavia in the quarterfinals. Mendon then defeated Brighton 1-0 in the semifinals.
“I thought this year there were a lot of great teams,” said Maureen Kempski, Vikings head coach. “Any given day any team could win. We had confidence because of our past experiences. Our players never gave up.”
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth senior Jenna Lazar led off the inning with a single. Erin Lyons tied the game with an RBI double two batters later.
Anna Valentine and Anna Merante drew walks keep the rally going. With two outs and the bases loaded Mendon senior first baseman Katie Brennan delivered a 2-run single to left field to put the Vikings in front to stay.
“I knew I had to get the hit, so I tried to everything to get my hands inside to hit the ball the other way,” Brennan said. “The energy was really high entering that inning, we were all pumped. We wanted it so bad.”
Mercy trailed 2-0 until the top of the third when Nicole Rivera plated Theresa Clancy with a two-out single. The Monarchs took the lead two innings later following RBIs by Aidan Falk and Rivera.
Valentine pitched a complete game to earn the win, battling out of trouble throughout the contest. The Monarchs put a runner on base every inning but left nine stranded.
Rivera singled with one out in the seventh, but Valentine struck out Grace Maxwell and an impressive catch by Lazar in foul territory ended the game.
“I play with some of them and they are amazing hitters,” Valentine said about Mercy. “It was hard deciding what I had to do but I knew their were certain pitches that worked better for certain batters”
Lazar’s hit provided the perfect spark in the sixth, as Rivera was on cruise control entering the inning retiring 12 straight batters. Rivera finished with five strikeouts on the mound and recorded two hits and two RBI offensively.
Early on Mendon appeared ready to repeat last year’s 10-0 throttling of the Monarchs, as they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Courtney Case led off with a triple and scored on a single by Lazar, who scored following a two-out single by Valentine.
“You could just tell with these girls they are not going to give up,” Kempski said. “They have a lot of toughness, and you don’t know who it is going to be in the lineup. Anybody one through nine can do it. They did a great job tonight.”
The Pittsford Mendon softball team had no problem earning the Section 5 Class A title in exciting fashion. After all, they had spent the entire Class A tournament winning in dramatic ways.
The Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to overtake Mercy en route to a 5-3 victory in the finals Thursday at the College at Brockport. Mendon won their third straight Class A crown and defeated the Monarchs in the finals for the second consecutive season.
The Vikings opened the postseason by scoring two runs in the sixth inning for a 6-4 victory over Batavia in the quarterfinals. Mendon then defeated Brighton 1-0 in the semifinals.
“I thought this year there were a lot of great teams,” said Maureen Kempski, Vikings head coach. “Any given day any team could win. We had confidence because of our past experiences. Our players never gave up.”
Down 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth senior Jenna Lazar led off the inning with a single. Erin Lyons tied the game with an RBI double two batters later.
Anna Valentine and Anna Merante drew walks keep the rally going. With two outs and the bases loaded Mendon senior first baseman Katie Brennan delivered a 2-run single to left field to put the Vikings in front to stay.
“I knew I had to get the hit, so I tried to everything to get my hands inside to hit the ball the other way,” Brennan said. “The energy was really high entering that inning, we were all pumped. We wanted it so bad.”
Mercy trailed 2-0 until the top of the third when Nicole Rivera plated Theresa Clancy with a two-out single. The Monarchs took the lead two innings later following RBIs by Aidan Falk and Rivera.
Valentine pitched a complete game to earn the win, battling out of trouble throughout the contest. The Monarchs put a runner on base every inning but left nine stranded.
Rivera singled with one out in the seventh, but Valentine struck out Grace Maxwell and an impressive catch by Lazar in foul territory ended the game.
“I play with some of them and they are amazing hitters,” Valentine said about Mercy. “It was hard deciding what I had to do but I knew their were certain pitches that worked better for certain batters”
Lazar’s hit provided the perfect spark in the sixth, as Rivera was on cruise control entering the inning retiring 12 straight batters. Rivera finished with five strikeouts on the mound and recorded two hits and two RBI offensively.
Early on Mendon appeared ready to repeat last year’s 10-0 throttling of the Monarchs, as they took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Courtney Case led off with a triple and scored on a single by Lazar, who scored following a two-out single by Valentine.
“You could just tell with these girls they are not going to give up,” Kempski said. “They have a lot of toughness, and you don’t know who it is going to be in the lineup. Anybody one through nine can do it. They did a great job tonight.”
