Amherst Lightning 14U wins Clarence tournament

The Amherst Lightning silver team won the Clarence 14U girls fastpitch softball tournament. Members of the team, pictured from left, are: first row - Charlene Cinelli, Courtney Smith, Marcella Ossa; second row - batgirl Jenn Wess, Jenna Reilley, Danielle Cohen, Jess Wess, Jami Cohen, batgirl Andrea Cohen; third row - coach Mike Sansano, head coach Bob Cohen, Alexa Morse, Kelly McNamara, coach Patti Ossa; fourth row - Jen Sansano, Chelsea Stoeckl and coach Mike Morse.

The Amherst Lightning 14U silver team won the Clarence 14U girls fastpitch softball tournament last weekend.

The Lightning went undefeated in six games behind extraordinary pitching, stellar defense, and clutch hitting up and down the roster. The team held four of its six opponents scoreless and gave up only one run in the championship game.

In the one game in which their opponent generated runs, the Lightning stormed back in heart-pounding fashion, overcoming a four-run deficit with two outs in the last inning.

The championship game pitted the Lightning against the New Era Lightning Elite of Rochester.

Shortstop Jenna Reilley (Williamsville East), third baseman Marcella Ossa (Clarence), second baseman Charlene Cinelli (Sweet Home), and catcher Jami Cohen (Williamsville East) made a number of defensive gems to keep Amherst in the game but Rochester clung to a 1-0 lead through five innings of play.

In the sixth inning, Amherst exploded for three runs on four consecutive hits to take the lead. Cinelli began the rally by singling sharply to center field. Ossa lined a single to left field to advance Cinelli and Reilley powered a shot to left field that scored both runners. Jen Sansano (Clarence) then singled in Reilley with what proved to be an insurance run. Sansano was named tournament MVP.

Amherst played stellar defense the rest of the way to win 3-1 and take the championship. It was the third consecutive year in which coach Bob Cohen led a Lightning team to Clarence tourney title.

Chelsea Stoeckl's (Williamsville North) two-run blast in the fifth inning was all the Lightning needed in the semifinal game as they defeated the Slik Chix of Albany, 3-0. Sansano threw a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

Earlier, the Lightning shut out the Rochester Lady Lions, 5-0, behind Alexa Morse's two-hitter, as Sansano homered and Stoeckl tripled in the convincing victory. Morse attends Williamsville East.

The Lightning faced a tough Erie Frost team in game three of the tournament and found themselves down 6-2 before striking for five runs with two outs in the top of the final inning to squeak out the win.

Danielle Cohen (Williamsville East) led off the inning by singling sharply to left field. Cinelli moved Cohen to second with a sacrifice bunt, but the Frost was able to secure another out and found itself only one out from victory.

Down to their last out, the Lightning struck with a fury. Cohen scored on Ossa's shot to center field. Reilley then walked and Sansano singled in Ossa to bring the Lightning to within two runs.

Cleanup hitter Courtney Smith (Sweet Home) then doubled to center field, scoring Reilley and Sansano. Stoeckl then singled home Smith for what turned out to be the winning run.

The Lightning needed one final, stellar defensive play to win the game. In the bottom of the last inning, the Frost put the tying and winning runs in scoring position before Frost leadoff hitter Taylor Welch hit a shot to left field that had the Amherst faithful gasping. But Lightning left fielder Jess Wess (Williamsville North) backpedaled and made a spectacular over the shoulder grab to end the game and preserve the victory.

Lightning pitcher Morse matched Sansano's dominance in game two, hurling a no-hitter and striking out 10 in a 6-0 victory over the Penfield Cobras. Reilley, Jami Cohen, Kelly McNamara (Williamsville East), and Cinelli all singled in the second inning to score the Lightning's first three runs of the game and provide all the scoring they would need.

Amherst started out the tournament by shutting out the host team 4-0 as Lightning pitcher and Sansano struck out 11 Clarence batters while yielding only three hits. Lightning second baseman McNamara reached base three times to lead the offense.