Courtesy: U of R Athletics
Rochester clinched the top seed for the Liberty League softball playoffs with a doubleheader sweep of Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon. The Yellowjackets won game one, 5-4, and took the nightcap, 9-4. Rochester is 23-13 overall. Ithaca is 20-15.
The Bombers came into the game tied with Rochester for first place in the standings. Both squads were 11-1. Rochester split a DH on Friday with Union College, losing the opener, 10-1, before winning game two, 7-0, on a no-hitter. Ithaca pulled even with a doubeheader sweep of RIT.
Seedings for the playoffs show Rochester first (13-1 LL record), Ithaca second (11-3), RPI third (10-4), and Skidmore fourth (7-7). These are the same four teams that made the abbreviated playoffs last year. Rochester edged Skidmore and Ithaca topped RPI in midweek semifinals. Rochester won the tournament championship with a victory over Ithaca.
This year, it is a return to normal with a three-day double-elimination format. On Thursday, Rochester will host #4 Skidmore at noon. Game two has Ithaca vs. RPI at 2:30 p.m. Friday’s action starts at 10 a.m. with the winners from games one and two playing each other. The winner of game three advances to Saturday’s championship round. Game four has the losers of games one and two playing at 12:30 p.m. Game five, scheduled for 3 p.m., has the loser of game three (Friday’s opener) against the winner of game four. On Sunday, the game three winner will play the game five winner. A game seven will be played only if both teams from game six have one loss at that point.
Game One:
Rochester 5, Ithaca 4 (8 innings):
Hunter Gilbreath hit a one-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to cap Rochester’s rally in the late innings. The win clinched the top seed for UR in the Liberty League playoffs.
The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands three times. Ithaca led, 1-0, eventually tied it, then moved ahead, 4-2. Rochester missed a chance to get even in the sixth but did score twice in the bottom of the seventh to tie it before winning it on the Gilbreath homer.
Riley Piromalli pitched the first five innings for Ithaca. She left after giving up two hits in the bottom of the sixth. Anna Cornell relieved and worked out of it, but UR got to her in the seventh to tie the score before winning in the eighth. Piromalli allowed five hits, two runs (both earned), walked one, and struck out two. Cornell pitched 2.1 innings of relief, giving up four hits, three earned runs, and fanning two. She took the loss.
For Rochester, Emily Sharlach scattered nine hits over seven innings. She allowed four runs (two earned), walked one, hit one, and struck out three. Lauren Keys, who one day earlier threw a no-hitter vs. Union, got the win. She set down Ithaca in order in the eighth with two strikeouts and was the beneficiary of the Gilbreath home run.
Ithaca was aggressive on the bases and that helped the Bombers to score. In the first, Emma Kindbom singled, moved up on a wild pitch, took third on a single by Allison Dell’Orto and scored on Julia Loffredo’s infield grounder. Rochester took the lead in the second. Gilbreath singled and two batters later, her runner scored when Madi Turner homered to left Ithaca was aggressive on the bases and that helped the Bombers to score. In the first, Emma Kindbom singled, moved up on a wild pitch, took third on a single by Allison Dell’Orto and scored on Julia Loffredo’s infield grounder. Rochester took the lead in the second. Gilbreath singled and two batters later, her runner scored when Madi Turner homered to left center.
The lead held up until the fifth With one out, Kindblom popped up in the infield. No one took charge to catch it and the ball fell off a glove. Kindblom, running hard from the start, reached second base. She scored on Dell’Orto’s single to tie the score at 2-2. In the sixth, Sela Scheinman homered. Kailey Collins doubled to left. After a popout, Tava Kasper singled Collins to third. She was bunted to second and over-ran the base. When she saw Collins was still at third, she retreated. Rochester tried to trap her there. In the rundown, Collins took off for home. The ball was thrown away and she scored for a 4-2 lead.
In Rochester’s sixth, Loren Castilloux poked a single to right with no one out and Hannah Keiper doubled down the left field line. Cornell replaced Piromalli. She fanned Bryce West and Gilbreath, then retired Bailey Nicholoff.
UR’s game-tying rally came with one out. Molly Mason lined a single to center. Pinch-hitter Jenna Gorecki singled up the middle, moving Mason to second. Klee re-entered the game for Gorecki. Aly Kim singled up the middle, taking second on the throw as Mason scored and Klee moved to third. She scored on Castilloux’s flyout to right. In the eighth, Gilbreath drove a full count pitch over the left field fence.
Game Two:
Rochester 9, Ithaca 4
For the second time this year, Keys earned the wins on both ends of a doubleheader. She did it earlier in the year against RPI and accomplished it vs. Ithaca. She gave up five hits and four runs over the first two innings, then allowed just two hits over the last five innings for the complete game win. In all, she allowed seven hits, four earned runs, walked two, and struck out six. She improved to 9-6.
Ithaca’s Bella Scolaro took the loss (0-1). She was the second pitcher for the Bombers. Melody Kappel started and gave up four hits and three earned runs in two innings. She was replaced by Scolaro who walked three and allowed one hit. Rochester scored two in the first and one in the second against Kappel, then took the lead for good with two in the third against Scolaro. Game one starter Piromalli pitched the fourth and fifth, and Cornell pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
In all, Rochester amassed eight hits and six walks in game two. One of those hits was a solo home run by Ally Kim. She also stole four bases which tied the Rochester single-game record. Kim was 2-3 with three runs scored. In the fourth, she singled, then stole second, third, and home.
The first three hitters in the third walked. Eventually, pinch-runner Kristen Myers scored on a wild pitch. Molly Mason singled home Nicholoff. That put Rochester ahead, 5-4. The Yellowjackets stretched it to 9-4 on Kim’s steal of home, an RBI single by Gilbreath, and a two-run double by Nicholoff.
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