South softball ties for third at Morabito tourney

Williamsville South showed many of the top softball teams in New York State why they are defending Class A state champions with a 3-1 showing at the James "Ace" Morabito Tournament held May 19-20 in Conklin, N.Y. South finished tied for third out of 16 teams entered in the tournament.

The Lady Billies, ranked No. 1 in Class A in the state, opened with a 1-0 win in 11 innings over defending Class B state champion Susquehanna Valley of Section IV, ranked No. 1 in Class B on May 19.

Susquehanna Valley pitcher Becca Wiggins threw a perfect game through seven innings but her team was unable to score off of South pitcher Chelsea Plimpton, who recorded 17 strikeouts and tossed a three- hitter.

Plimpton also turned out to be offensive MVP when she executed a perfect suicide bunt with two strikes in the eleventh to score Claire Gerlach, who got on second because of the international tie-breaker rule and was sacrificed to third base by catcher Lisa Fronczak to set up the potential winning run.

The Lady Billies' two previous games with Susquehanna Valley were a 2-1 South loss in 15 innings in 2005 (Plimpton set state record with 23 strikeouts) and a 1-0 victory last year (Plimpton threw perfect game, Carolyn Schaus hit home run).

South followed the Susquehanna Valley win with a 1-0 loss to Section I's John Jay. It was the Lady Billies' first loss of the season.

Plimpton walked her first batter before recording outs to the next 20 batters. Eighteen were strikeouts. With two outs in the seventh, John Jay's clean-up hitter hit a home run that stayed fair by one foot over the left field fence to win the game.

South only struck out four times but was unable to score. Lauren Falzone, Schaus and Sam Strapason each had a hit.

The Lady Billies rebounded from its heartbreaking loss to pound out eight hits in a 6-4 victory over Section IX's Minisink Valley on May 20. Leading the way were Fronczak and Plimpton, who were each 3 for 3. Plimpton hit two doubles and a single for three RBIs.

On the mound, Plimpton recorded 13 strikeouts in a six innings and allowed one run. Her younger sister, eighth grader Kyle, was called up from JV and pitched her first varsity inning, allowing two hits and three unearned runs as South committed three errors.

South completed the Morabito Tournament with a convincing 6-2 win over Seton Catholic of Section IV. Hitting stars were Falzone (2 for 2), Fronczak (2 for 2, triple, three RBIs) and single hits by Chelsea Plimpton, Strapason, Schaus and Gerlach.

In her first varsity start, Kyle Plimpton allowed a single run in the first and fifth, striking out the side in the seventh to record five strikeouts and allowing eight hits in posting her first win of the season.

For the tournament, Fronczak had five hits, and Chelsea Plimpton and Falzone each had four hits. Shortstop Elena Hozdic and Strapason, at first, played well defensively. Chelsea Plimpton finished the tournament with 48 strikeouts in three games.

South closed out its tenth straight league championship with a 7-0 shutout over Hamburg on Monday, May 14. It was the team's 59th consecutive league win.

Strapason led the offense with a 3 for 4 afternoon, including a triple and three RBIs. Falzone added two hits and Nicolette Neenos, Ashley Aurillo and Gerlach provided single hits.

Scoreless after three, South broke open the game in the fourth with four runs and added three runs in the sixth.

Chelsea Plimpton recorded her 100th varsity win and threw 16 strikeouts to move her career total to 1,271. She threw 12 strikeouts against Sweet Home to break the all-time state record (see Plimpton story). South won 11-0. Plimpton also threw a three-hitter.

Offensively, South was led against Sweet Home by Aurillo's three-run home run and two hits by Gerlach, Schaus, Strapason, Hozdic, Devon Powers, and single hits by Chelsea Plimpton and Robin Donovan.

South (21-1) played Clarence on Tuesday, May 22 but the result was unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Williamsville North at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22. The Section VI Tournament begins on Thursday, May 24. South will most likely host a quarterfinal game on Friday, May 25.