A Liverpool softball team built to win by any means necessary pulled on its muck gear, rolled up its sleeves and crafted a beautifully imperfect title on Friday.
Liverpool pushed across two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good and edge Cicero-North Syracuse 8-7 in the Section III Class AAA softball final at Carrier Park.
Neither team led by more than one run in the back-and-forth affair, which was replete with errors and walks. But with the season on the line, Liverpool scratched its way to one final lead and ace Mackenzie Frani settled herself to retire the final six batters.
"Coming into sectionals, it's never going to be easy. In my four years, I've never had an easy game of sectionals," Frani said. "Coming in here, you can't expect you're going to win. You have to expect the worst from every single game, and you have to be ready for every single part."
No. 1 seed Liverpool (12-7) advances to play Section II's Saratoga Springs on June 1 in the first round of the states. No. 2 C-NS finishes 12-7.
The game was a dramatic departure from the two regular season contests between the teams, both of which Liverpool won handily.
"When we faced them last we were 2-6. Our team batting average was like .133. Things weren't clicking yet," said Northstars coach Morgin Nandin. "And then from that second Liverpool game, where they handled us pretty well, we went 10-2, our team batting average jumped to high .300s. We just grew. And it's all about how you finish the season."
Frani fanned twelve, gave up four earned runs and walked six in seven innings. At the plate, Liverpool was boosted by three hits and two RBI from Maya Mills and three hits from Ava Falvo.
Cicero-North Syracuse starter Mila Owens allowed seven earned runs and walked six in four frames. Aubrey Coyle went 2-for-3 with four RBI for the Northstars.
C-NS pushed back one last time to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the fifth. Payton Bach led off with a double and one out later came home on a single by Erica Hibbard.
"Sectionals are always that way. There's upsets all the time. I've said to many people I think C-NS is playing the best softball of anybody at the end of the season," said Liverpool coach Phil DeAugustine. "I have a lot of respect for what Morgan Nadin's done there in her short time. That's a program that's going to be back in this game for the foreseeable future."
But Liverpool, as it did all game, just shrugged off the deficit and got back to work. Katia Flavin led off the bottom of the fifth by reaching on an error, then took second and third on wild pitches. Brooke Tyler worked Owens for a walk and Kiyara Bembry came on in relief for the Northstars.
Lauren Ragonese greeted her with a double to the base of the left-field fence to bring in Flavin with the tying run.
"I feel like there's been a rivalry (with C-NS) since I was a freshman. I remember freshman year, sectional championship, we lost to them," Ragonese said. "So in my mind, I'm thinking, I've got to end my senior year coming back, beating C-NS. I'm just thinking of having fun. If this is my last moment I want to make it count. That's how my mindset was the whole game."
One out later, Mills' groundout drove in pinch runner Luciana Deuel from third with what would prove to be the winning run.
Frani then took over to flash the form that made her one of Section III's dominant pitchers this season. She retired the C-NS in order in the top of the sixth and then finished with a flourish by striking out the side in the seventh.
"I said to a few other people, it's a game of mindset," Frani said. "You've really got to set your mindset right to be able to get these tough outs. And once I got through those three batters (in the sixth), I knew what to pitch after that. I knew where to pitch after that. And it got a little bit easier after that. I really buckled down mentally."
The payoff was particularly gratifying for Frani, a senior. Although this is her fourth season on the varsity, it's her first as the number one pitcher. The extended internship was spent behind departed ace Cassie Wiggins.
"I knew this was my year," Frani said. "I knew I was the pitcher now. That's a big part of playing. You've got to come in here. You've got to come in ready."
Frani was, and as a result, she and the six other seniors on the team get to play together for at least one more week.
"Just enjoying next week with each other, enjoying the bus ride, and showing up and playing our hardest and getting Chipotle after the game," DeAugustine said when asked what he was expecting from the extended season. "Those are the important details. Win or lose the game, if we're going to weigh our season on whether we go to states or not as a successful season, then we're missing the big point of high school sports and playing with each other."
