Write a commentThe current players on the Oswego Pride's 14-and-under team have been together for about three years. Prior to this past weekend, they had not won on a Sunday in tournament single-elimination action.
Now, they've started a new tradition — not losing during Sunday single-elimination play.
The Pride 14s on Sunday captured the championship of the 11th annual Tournament of the Hills in Fabius.
"It was a great team effort," Coach Mark Lazzaro said. "They had never won an elimination game in their three years together." The members of the Pride 14s are Maia Delaney, Allie Rodgers, Brianna Bush, Kelci Somers, Olivia Dowdle, Jenna McManus, Natasha Mezza, Lexi Rinoldo, Megan Norris, Emily Lloyd, M'kenzie Bradshaw, and Hannah Gorman.
Lazzaro is joined on the coaching staff by Jason Rinoldo, Dick Delaney and Mike Bradshaw.
The Pride went 2-1 in the pool-play portion of the tournament, defeating Fabius-Pompey 10-0 and Marcellus 7-5, and losing 8-5 to the Southern Tier Smoke.
In Sunday's single-elimination round, the Pride trounced Fabius-Pompey 8-0 in five innings and upended top-seeded Hazen's Northern Star 7-2 to make the title game.
Oswego notched the championship by edging the Vipers, 3-2.
Gorman pitched in all six games and received MVP honors. Rinoldo was the starting and winning pitcher against Marcellus.
Lazzaro said the Pride scored early in the games and used that momentum to keep it on a winning path. The Pride also executed the fundamentals and used aggressive baserunning.
"We stole a lot of bases, and we bunted successfully several times," Lazzaro said.
Lazzaro also gave credit to former Oswego varsity softball coach Mike McCrobie and current Buc varsity coach Ron Ahart for working with the players on Thursday mornings. The extra work is paying dividends, Lazzaro said. He also praised the other coaches on the team for their valuable contributions and keeping the players focused.
The Pride will compete this weekend in the Finger Lakes Classic at Midlakes High School in Clifton Springs.
Following are recaps of the Pride's games at the Tournament of the Hills.
Pride 10, Fabius-Pompey 0: Scoring five runs in the first inning, the Pride cruised to a five-inning victory. Rodgers singled to ignite the first-inning rally, and three walks and two errors paved the way to the big inning.
The Pride added three runs in the third inning and two more in the fourth.
Also getting hits were Mezza, Lloyd, Bradshaw, McManus, Dowdle, and Somers.
Gorman pitched the win, notching five strikeouts.
Pride 7, Marcellus 5: Oswego scored all of its runs in the first inning. Rodgers, Norris, and Delaney had singles to highlight the uprising, and Marcellus made three errors.
Marcellus plated two runs in the second inning and three in the third, but the Pride held on to win. Rinoldo was the winning pitcher, with relief help from Gorman.
S. T. Smoke 8, Pride 5: The Southern Tier Smoke rode a four-run rally in the third inning to defeat the Pride.
Lloyd, Mezza, Delaney, and Dowdle collected hits in a losing cause.
Pride 8, Fabius-Pompey 0: Rodgers blasted a home run to lead off a five-run first inning for the Pride. Mezza and Lloyd also laced hits in the frame.
Mezza, Lloyd, and Bradshaw finished with two hits apiece. Delaney also hit safely.
Gorman struck out four in the shutout. She retired the first nine batters in a row, and finished with a three-hitter in this five-inning game.
Pride 7, Hazen's Northern Star 2: Gorman scattered seven hits and the Pride erupted for six runs in the fourth inning to upset top-seeded Hazen's Northern Star.
Rinoldo belted a single and a double. Also getting hits were Rodgers, Dowdle, Mezza, Lloyd, Delaney and Somers.
Pride 3, Vipers 2: In the championship game, the Vipers tallied two runs in the top of the first inning, but the Pride answered with a run in the home half when Rodgers singles, stole second, and later scored on a Mezza groundout.
Oswego tied it in the third inning. McManus walked, stole second, and later scored on another Mezza groundout.
The winning run was plated in the fifth. Dowdle reached on an error and later crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.
Gorman and the Pride defense shut down the Vipers after the first inning. The Vipers loaded the bases in the sixth inning, but Gorman got a big strikeout to get out of the jam. She retired the side in order in the seventh.
