By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Fairport softball followed the pre-game script, and the Red Raiders claimed the program’s first sectional title in a decade.
Tournament MVP Cecelia Byrne hurled 4.2 scoreless innings of relief, and Fairport held off Victor, 2-1 in the Section V Class AA championship game played at Greece Odyssey High School on Saturday.
Byrne came on in relief of Amanda Linnenbrink with bases loaded and one out in the third. The right-hander struck out the first two batters to end the threat.
“That was the goal there,” head coach Curt Johnson said of the situation. “Cecelia comes in second because she throws movement pitches a little bit more than Amanda. If they start timing Amanda up, she throws a little bit harder, then I can put Cecelia in there to keep them off-balance.”
Byrne struck out four. She scattered three hits and three walks.
“There’s a reason she’s the Class AA player of the year, and you just saw it today,” Johnson added. “She can get strike outs and she can weak ground balls and/or pop ups which she did pretty much all game.”
Fairport used a two-out in the first to get all the runs needed.
Nicole Allen jumpstarted the offense with a double. Morgan Kennedy followed with an RBI single, and Juliana Catalano called the frame with a run-scoring double.
The title was the program’s first since 2013.
“Years in the making,” the fifth-year coach said. “We’ve been in the final the last three years (with the exception of 2020 when the season was cancelled). We’ve been close and finally we broke through. That was one of the things we were aiming for.
”I don’t want to be the Buffalo Bills and go O-and-4 in four championships. It’s a great program. It’s a great team and to go a decade without winning a championship is too long.”
Victor used a two-out rally of its own in the second inning. Ashley Jedrich walked and scored on a Carrie Sidare double.
The Blue Devils, though, left 16 runners on base in the game. Three separate stanzas (first, third and sixth) had bases loaded and came away empty-handed.
Olivia Steinorth started and struck out four. The right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and one walk.
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