By Kieran Coffey
Sun Sports Contributor

ENDICOTT – The Norwich Tornado varsity softball team claimed second place at the annual Mary Testa Tournament, which took place in Union Endicott this past Saturday, Apr. 30.
In their first matchup, Norwich faced off against Tioga. They emerged as close victors, 10-9.
The Purple Tornado offense was on fire from the start, and they jumped out to a huge advantage. “We were up 10-1 after five innings and then Hannah started getting some tightness in her arm,” said Norwich head coach Scott Moore. Eddy, who pitched the complete game for Norwich, ended up yielding 12 hits and gave up eight earned runs over the duration, but the Tornado survived by the skin of their teeth to clinch the win. “We played really solid ball for six innings, but that last inning got the best of us. It was just single after single,” said Moore. Kassidy Seary was the MVP of the game. She had a splendid afternoon, finishing 4 for five at the plate, with two RBI’s. Jordan Sanford finished two for four at the plate, with a run batted in.
After their victory, the Tornado had little time to rest before they took on Elmira in the final of the Tournament. Led by an amazing pitching performance from Bella Reese, Elmira went on to capture the Championship, defeating Norwich 7-0.
This game was never really much of a contest. Elmira jumped out to a quick three run lead in the second inning and never looked back. The Norwich batters were no match for Reese, who pitched a complete game, with a commanding 13 strikeouts, only giving up five hits and allowing no earned runs. “Elmira are just a solid team. They’re class double A,“ said Moore. “It’s pretty tough. They had a good pitcher. She had a really nice changeup. She got Kassidy on a good changeup, she got Jordan twice on a changeup, and she got Hannah on a changeup. Changing speed really helps when everything is working good.” Shannon Moore finished as the MVP for Norwich, going one for two at the plate, with a double as well as earing two walks.
Although they lost, Norwich can take pride in the fact that they still will receive Sectional points, as they took on a class AA school, being a class B school themselves. Moore was also able to take some other positives from the game. “We only had one error and we played solid defense,” he said.
Looking towards the future, the Tornado now stand at 8-5 on the season, with five games left to play. Moore remains optimistic about his team’s chances at reaching the STAC Championship, “I told the girls, four of the last five teams we have left we’ve beat, so let’s sweep them and we’ll win Sectionals. If we get (Chenango) Forks at the end and beat them, kudos to us. We go in with some good numbers. If the ball bounces right, we might have a shot of getting into the STAC finals.”