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Lake’s Turn

Thunderbirds Return Favor, Knock Off Portville To Advance

Chautauqua Lake players celebrate their 9-2 win over Portville in the Section VI Class C championship game Tuesday at St. Bonaventure’s Joyce Field. P-J photo by Lisa Monacelli

ST. BONAVENTURE — Chautauqua Lake was forced to wait a little longer than it would have liked to earn its third Section VI Class C softball title in the last four years, but after weathering an hour-and-a-half delay in 90-degree heat the second-seeded Thunderbirds made the most of their opportunities en route to a 9-2 upset of No. 1 Portville on Tuesday at Joyce Field.

Four errors in the opening inning gift-wrapped a three-run lead for Chautauqua Lake (14-3), and that margin proved too much for the Panthers (18-2) to overcome in the face of strong games from Olivia Anderson on the mound and her partner behind the plate, catcher Chadelynn Johnson.

“It’s obviously a big stage and not the way you want to start off, some errors that were uncharacteristic,” Portville head coach Bill Torrey said. “You have to credit Chautauqua Lake’s pitcher, she did a nice job of keeping hitters off balance and we were just struggling from start to finish. We didn’t have a base runner on for the first four innings. It speaks volumes to her pitching. We spotted them a few early on. I think that was hard to overcome.”

Following the delay, the Thunderbirds’ day began when Johnson moved to first on a ball that could not be corralled by a Panthers’ defender, after which Lily Studley also grabbed a base on a poor throw to first that allowed Johnson to move to third.

From there, Cianna Braymiller struck an infield ground ball that could not be picked up, allowing Johnson to beat out a throw to home plate for the first run of the day.

Chautauqua Lake shortstop Cameryn Hawkins fields a ball during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C championship game against Portville at St. Bonaventure’s Joyce Field. P-J photo by Lisa Monacelli

With errors in hand, the Thunderbirds continued to work through their batting order as Cameryn Hawkins cracked an RBI single to score Studley while Kendra Keyser finished off the opening frame with an RBI single.

With momentum on her side, Anderson took to the mound for the first time and promptly forced outs from the first three batters of Portville’s order to send her offense back to the plate.

“They came out of the gate and I told them ‘I want hits right away, I want scores on the board for Liv,'” said Chautauqua Lake coach Sue Teets, who defeated Franklinville for her first title in 2015. The Thunderbirds won the Class C-1 crown last year before falling to Portville in the Class C crossover game. “You know it’s been hot. We’ve been hanging out here a while. Let’s make it count. Their goal, they talked about it on the bus, was (avenging) that 2-1 loss last year. It was still bothering them.”

After nearly hitting through its order in the first, Chautauqua Lake began the second inning just as hot when Megan Fischer cracked a low single to left field, which returned Johnson to the plate where the junior belted another low line drive. That brought Studley back up to bat, where she was able to make good contact for a double that scored Fischer, but a good throw to home was able to catch Johnson.

The Panthers were able to force a fly out from Braymiller to get out of the jam with just one run of damage.

Chautauqua Lake’s Olivia Anderson delivers to the plate during Tuesday’s game. P-J photo by Lisa Monacelli

The Thunderbirds would threaten again in the top of the fourth when Anderson ripped a single and Braymiller was hit by a pitch, but shortstop Jill Hlasnick was able to make a strong defensive play to end the inning.

Hlasnick would try to build off of that rousing play with a single in the fourth, but no more hits could be found in the heart of the Panthers lineup.

In addition to six strikeouts and no walks from Anderson, the junior also added a well-hit double off the fence in the sixth, which was followed up by an RBI single from Braymiller to score Johnson with the sixth run of the day.

Johnson would finish with a pair of singles on the day while aiding Anderson’s effort in the circle.

“I can’t say enough for Olivia Anderson and Chay Johnson … that girl back there doesn’t get enough credit,” Teets said. “I’ve talked about her, she calls a good game. Coming in here we’re putting ice on her, but she hung in there. She was directing the girls and Olivia coming out here, some of the last couple pitches she threw, oh my gosh. You know we’re at the bottom of the seventh, we’ve been here since four o’clock in this heat, and she’s still bringing it.”

Three more runs would come from the No. 2 seed in the final inning as Katelyn Fardink and Fischer cracked singles. Johnson then ripped an RBI single over second base, which was followed by another single from Studley to plate a run and make it 7-0.

From there it was Braymiller who finally was able to make good contact for a two-run double, shortly after just missing a deep fly ball that fell left of the foul pole.

A triple from Karly Welty and RBI singles from Haley Unverdorben and Brooke DeYoe would give Portville its only two runs in the final frame, while pitcher Sydney Colligan would fan three in her effort in the circle.

The Thunderbirds now have a date with the winner of Thursday’s Section V Class C crossover game between LeRoy and Caledonia-Mumford. The Far West Regional matchup will be played Saturday at 4 p.m. at Fillmore High School, another artificial turf surface just like the Bonnies’ field.

“Once again we’re going to have to use Strider field or whomever will let us use their field. They were very comfortable. We went to Strider yesterday, it was 85 … about 100-something on the field. I said ‘Hey we’ve got to get used to this,'” Teets said. “I think they did a fine job adapting. We play on dirt and grass all year, so this is a tough adjustment.”

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