North softball splits games in Herkimer

Williamsville North softball ventured out to Herkimer, N.Y., on Saturday, April 14 for its first trip to the Mudville Softball Festival. North lost its opener, 4-3, to New Hartford on Saturday afternoon and responded with a 4-2 win over Oneida. Poor weather continues to play havoc with the spring sports season, as both games were shortened to five innings apiece.

New Hartford jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. North answered back with three runs in the top of the third to move ahead 3-2. Krissy Flierl opened the inning with a perfectly executed slap hit between third and short for a single. Lauren O'Brien reached on an error. Amanda Maraschiello then cleared the bases with a shot down the right field line and beat the throw home for a three-run home run.

New Hartford responded with two more runs in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead and never trailed the rest of the game.

Kayleigh Galliher made her varsity pitching debut for the Lady Spartans and threw an excellent game. Unfortunately for Galliher and North, some untimely errors led to three of the runs that New Hartford scored as unearned.

North still had chances but left six runners on base, including the bases loaded in the fourth, but was not able to cash in on its chances. Galliher finished the game allowing only two hits while striking out three and allowing three walks.

North responded against Oneida to notch their first win of the season. Another rookie, eighth-grader Robin Kennery, made her pitching debut an impressive one as she limited Oneida to just three hits while striking out eight, including striking out the side in the third.

North scored all the runs they would need in the first. Jen Pawlak opened with a single and advanced to second on a line single to left field by Kerry Ulmer. Kristen Weber followed with a single up the middle, scoring Pawlak. Ulmer and Weber advanced on the throw home. Kennery helped her cause after lining a single up the middle to bring in Ulmer and Weber for two runs.

North currently stands at 1-3 overall and 0-1 in ECIC Division I. North hosts West Seneca West on Wednesday, is at Frontier on Thursday and is at Sweet Home on Friday. They played at Clarence on Tuesday, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press.