The first batter of the game made the difference.

Rylee Weiskerger scored the game’s lone run and was dominant in the circle as Silver Creek beat Forestville 1-0 in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 1 East softball action.

“I would never go as far as to say somebody is the best player around or anything like that, I’m not that kind of guy, but she continues to impress me constantly. Her drive has been unrelenting,” Silver Creek head coach Justin Cerne said of Weiskerger. “She has the drive to be great and she puts the work in to be great. … You see it pay off.”

Weiskerger, the Black Knights’ ace right-hander, threw a two-hitter with 17 strikeouts and three walks.

Forestville’s Megan Gruber, fifth from left, is surrounded by teammates, including catcher Jade Work, after Gruber’s 300th career strikeout to end the first inning of Thursday’s CCAA Division 1 East game against Silver Creek at Forestville High School. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“We’ve been working hard in practice and the girls tried to prepare for Rylee the best we could,” Forestville head coach Brianne Hazelton said, “we just couldn’t come through when we needed to.”

Hornets junior Megan Gruber was nearly as good, tossing a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and one walk. The right-hander’s first strikeout of the game was the 300th of her career.

“That relationship they have is very special. They’ve been together since Little League,” Hazelton said of Gruber and junior catcher Jade Work. ” … I think for them to have that relationship does make a difference to get a couple extra strikeouts, or the other team doesn’t get as many hits, because they do know each other so well.”

First-place Silver Creek, No. 5 in this week’s New York State Sportswriters Association Class C rankings, improved to 9-1 overall and 6-0 in Division 1 East.

“There’s a lot of work ahead. The league title is a great goal. The school hasn’t won it since 1995; we were one game away last year,” said Cerne, whose team has allowed just three unearned runs in league play this spring. “Truth be told, we all know that’s a stepping stone toward bigger things. That’s our goal.”

Silver Creek’s Rylee Weiskerger is tagged out by Forestville’s Laneya Olsen attempting to steal second base. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

Forestville, No. 12 in the Class D rankings, fell to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the league.

Weiskerger put her mark on the game from the start. She led off the top of the first inning with a hard grounder to short that went for an error. The freshman then stole second and took third on senior Laneya Olsen’s comebacker to Gruber before scoring on freshman Kyla Zeigler’s groundout to short.

“She’s had a great bat all season. You get on whenever you can, errors, hits, whatever it is,” Cerne said. “The key also is her baserunning. She’s a very good baserunner. You can put the steal on and you know she’s going to get it nine times out of 10.”

Gruber struck out the next Black Knights batter for the 300th strikeout of her career, which was recognized and celebrated before the bottom of the frame.

“It’s hard to get there,” said Hazelton, a star pitcher in her own right at Frewsburg. “It’s a really big milestone for her. She deserves it.”

“Everytime we play her, she’s nails. Last year we split with them and both games were super tight. This year, both games were one-run games. That shows you right there the kind of player she is,” Cerne said of Gruber. “We make contact on her, but it’s never solid.”

Five Hornets reached base in the game against Weiskerger, but none could make it home.

In the second, a pair of walks and two wild pitches put runners at first and third with one out, but after Gruber stole second, Silver Creek threw to third where a Forestville runner wandered off the base and was tagged out. Weiskerger stranded Gruber with a strikeout of the Hornets’ No. 7 hitter.

In the third, sophomore Carilene Sliwa broke up Weiskerger’s no-hit bid with a two-out single, stole second and went to third when the throw got into center field, but again the Black Knights escaped with a strikeout.

That started a string of six straight strikeouts for Weiskerger before sophomore Iris Muck singled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Again, Silver Creek got out of the inning with a strikeout.

Sliwa became Forestville’s final base runner when she walked to open the bottom of the sixth inning and went to second on eighth-grader Emily Lillie’s sacrifice bunt for the second out. But Weiskerger’s 14th strikeout of the day ended that threat.

“Going into the season, I knew with young pitchers, defense was going to be the key. It was our focus all offseason and all preseason,” said Cerne, whose Black Knights made just one error in the game. “The fact that it’s paying off … is building confidence.”

Finally, Weiskerger struck out the side in the seventh to complete the shutout.

“I thought that we played really well today,” Hazelton said. “That one error that we had … it was unfortunate, that’s all it takes sometimes.”

NOTES: Weiskerger, Zeigler and freshman Prya Sakpal had singles for Silver Creek. … Work threw out a pair of Black Knights attempting to steal. … Silver Creek hosts Pine Valley and the Hornets host North Collins today.