On Monday, Johnson was even better in the circle to begin Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West league play against Clymer/Sherman and this time the Chautauqua Lake offense showed up in a big way to grab the 7-2 victory.

“It definitely helps when the pitcher stays ahead in the count,” Chautauqua Lake head coach Katherine Yudin said about Johnson’s performance.

“She’s throwing strikes and not walking people; it definitely helps. We know we’ve got our defense behind us if they do put the ball in play, but it always helps having a pitcher that can throw strikes and be consistent.”

After going down 1-2-3 in the first inning, it was Lucy Gates with one huge swing of the bat that got the Chautauqua Lake offense rocking in the right direction as she hammered a ball over the left fielder’s head to lead off the second as she made her way around for a home run.

Clymer/Sherman’s Elli Bodamer delivers to the plate during Monday’s CCAA Division 2 West softball game against Chautauqua Lake in Mayville. P-J photo by Christian Storms

Gates kept slugging in her next at-bat connecting for an RBI triple. Chautauqua Lake’s final run was also a home run coming off the bat of Johnson that rolled to the fence in center field. Johnson scored to make the game 7-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

“I think the girls were seeing the ball really well today,” Yudin said about the offense. “They were getting deep in the count and they were waiting for their pitch. We talk about that a lot, find your pitch, don’t be swinging at something you don’t want if it’s early in the count. The girls were seeing the ball well and connecting and putting everything together that we’ve been working on at practice … it was nice to see it all come together.”

The Eagles benefitted from the big bats, but it was small ball in the third and fourth innings that built Chautauqua Lake’s lead.

Karagan Fairbank got things started with a single in the third inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. A groundout moved her to third before Eden Ludwig’s sacrifice bunt scored her.

Then, in the fourth inning Chautauqua Lake tacked on three more runs to go up 6-0. Seventh-grader Alice Scarpine led off with her second single of the game and Alexis Delcamp walked. A stolen base by Scarpine and wild pitches put both runners in scoring position for Fairbank. Connecting for her last hit of the day to go 2 for 3, Fairbank’s single drove in another run and she eventually scored again thanks to errors by the Wolves.

“We’ve got Alice and Kinslee (Motter) who are both seventh-graders,” Yudin said about the youth of her team. “They’re competitors, they’re great athletes, they’re going to go out there and do what they do. Alice had some good hits today, Kinzlee had some good hits, Kinzlee had a few good catches out in the outfield for us especially that last play. We’ve got a young team, but as I said before watching them grow is going to be a fun thing.”

Scarpine finished 3 for 3 with a run scored and Motter added a single.

Clymer/Sherman, playing in its first game of the season, was determined to get a run on the board trailing 6-0 in the sixth inning. Lily Martin led off with a walk and she stole second to get in scoring position. An error at shortstop put runners on the corners for the Wolves and Elli Bodamer stealing second in a double-steal was read by Chautauqua Lake, but the errant throw to third base allowed for Martin to come home and put Clymer/Sherman on the board 6-1.

“That’s something we talk a lot about,” Clymer/Sherman head coach Dave Bodamer said about the baserunning. “We want to try and take as many bases as we can and take advantage of any opportunities. When we were behind like that, today we decided to get more aggressive as well. That was just trying to get back into some things and make some things happen.”

Johnson answered back with her home run in the bottom half of the inning, but the Wolves were not deterred when the seventh inning came around.

Caylee Pinzok led off with a single to right field before a stolen base and wild pitch brought her to third base. Pinzok ended up scoring while the Eagles (1-1, 1-0) made some errors in the field, but a pop fly to Motter in center field ended the game.

“It’s great, it was a great overall team win,” Yudin said about her first victory as coach of Chautauqua Lake. “I was telling the girls that not just one girl did it, we all came together and we all hit the ball, we made plays when we needed to. Cayzlee pitched a complete game, I think she had maybe 13 or 14 strikeouts. So overall, I think it was nice to see the girls come together after Tuesday’s loss and kind of figure things out and pull things together.”

Martin finished 1 for 2 with a pair of walks and a run scored, while Pinzok, Olivia Maleski and Harleigh Faulkner collected the other hits for Clymer/Sherman (0-1, 0-1).

“We told them afterwards that we thought they improved as the game went along,” Bodamer stated. “It’s only the second time we’ve been on the field this year and going up against a quality opponent. There’s things we’re not thrilled about, but there’s things we are happy about.”