Cameron Turner Photo

NORWICH – Norwich varsity softball took on the Oneonta Yellowjackets at home yesterday, May 3. This marks their second win over Oneonta this season, both games effectively going into extra innings to decide the outcome.
Norwich previously earned the win over Oneonta at 4-3 after an 11-inning game.
This time around, Norwich earned the win in the eighth inning at 3-2, impressively off of just three hits.
“They’re playing good ball right now.we just gotta get the bats going so everyone is in line and that starts steamrolling then we'll be all set. We have some tough games coming up, so we gotta get those bats going is all,” said Norwich coach Scott Moore.
Oneonta would jump out to an early 1-0 lead over Norwich in the first inning. The game would remain stalemated at 1-0, until an Oneonta batter singled to center field to send a runner home in the top of the fifth inning drawing the lead to 2-0 in favor of Oneonta.
In dire straits in the later innings, Norwich needed to connect with the ball to get it rolling in their favor, something Shannon Moore looked to help out with when she stepped up to bat in the bottom of the fifth.
With Morgan Conkling already on base from a walk, followed by a stolen base to advance to second. Moore slugged a hard ground ball to center field for a single sending Conkling home.
“We just couldn’t put the ball in play early on. We play the big ball and they know it, the outfield was on the fence so I told em down and hard, just put it in play,” said coach Moore.
The game would remain at 2-1, until the bottom of the sixth inning.
With Kassidy Seary in scoring position on third base and Hannah Eddy on second, it was Kate Dowdall who came through with the sacrifice to send home Seary for the tying run at 2-2.
Heading into extra innings, the pitching from Norwich's Hannah Eddy finally caught its stride as she helped keep the Oneonta batters at bay.
Eddy pitched out 127 pitches on the night, with six strikeouts and only three walks.
“She (Eddy) was struggling to start I think, she just wasn’t finding the spot, and she had two that were hit right back at her,” said coach Moore. “That second one stung her hand pretty bad, but she didn’t do to bad after that it was great. Hannah popped right back up after the second and scooped the ball to throw the out to first base. She pitched well tonight, she was throwing good.”
With bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning it was Morgan Conkling who was the savior at the plate for Norwich.
With Seary on third, Eddy on second, Oneonta elected to walk Kate Dowdall to load the bases and force an out at any plate. Conkling racked a nice single down the third base line sending Seary home for her second run of the night.
Norwich saw their batters enjoy limited but successful at bats with Shannon Moore going 1-3 with a hit and an RBI, Jordan Sanford go 1-4, Kassidy Seary secured two runs on the night, and Morgan Conkling go 1-3 with a run and an RBI.
Next up for Norwich is Owego Free Academy on Thursday, May 5. away at 4:30 p.m. Norwich defeated Owego earlier in the season 6-3 and will look for a repeat performance with some improved batting.
They (Owego) have a decent pitcher, we just jumped out early and held on for the win,” said coach Moore. “Hannah pitched well that game, so I am hoping we can repeat that, and Hannah is pitching really great right now. Our bats have just slowed down a little, so we have to get that going really.”
Notably for Norwich who sits at a 9-5 overall record, the New York State Rankings will be released later on this week and Norwich is expected to be ranked 23rd in the state.