SECTION IV SOFTBALL: TIOGA POUNDS OUT 16-4 WIN OVER GREENE; SEEKING FIRST SECTIONAL TITLE SINCE 2009 SATURDAY (24 PHOTOS) (2024-05-23)
Valley Sports ReportTIOGA CENTER - Top-seeded Tioga banged out 23 hits in support of seven solid innings from junior Erin Luther in a 16-4 win over fifth-seeded Greene here Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the Section IV, Class C softball playoffs.
Tioga, now 17-3, will now face second-seeded Union Springs, which advanced with a 6-3 win over third-seeded Bainbridge-Guilford, in the Class C title game Saturday at 2 p.m. at Greenlight Park in Binghamton.
Tioga will be playing for its first Section IV title since 2009, and only its second ever.
Luther allowed four runs — three earned — on six hits, while striking out six and walking three in a complete-game win.
Luther also had four hits, including a pair of doubles, and three RBI to lead Tioga at the plate, while junior McKenzie Williams belted a home run, and two doubles, scored one run, and had four RBI, and sophomore RaeAnne Feeko had three hits, including two doubles, two runs scored, and four RBI.
Senior Emily Bidwell had three hits, three runs scored, and two RBI in the win, while sophomore Lily Mezzatesta had three hits, including a double, two runs, and one run driven in, and freshman Vanessa Tunnicliff had three hits, and two runs scored.
Freshman Jade Keaty singled twice, and scored two runs for the Tigers, while senior Megan Vance doubled and singled, scored two runs, and drove in one run, 7th-grader Irie Lynch scored two runs, and 7th-grader Brianna Lounsbury crossed the plate once.
The Tigers scored in every inning, and led 8-0 after three innings.
Williams started the scoring with a two-out solo home run to center field in the bottom of the first to give Tioga an early 1-0 lead.
Feeko belted a two-RBI double, and Luther helped her own cause with a two-out, two-run single as part of a five-run rally in the second inning that extended the lead to 6-0.
The Tioga defense turned its second double play in as many innings in the third inning to get out of a jam, and Feeko ripped a two-run double in the home half of the frame to make it 8-0.
Greene got on the board with two runs in the top of the fourth, but Tioga answered with an RBI single by Bidwell, and an RBI double by Vance to push the lead back to eight runs, at 10-2.
Williams and Luther smacked back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth inning, and Bidwell and Vance hit run-scoring singles, sandwiched around an RBI-double by Mezzatesta, to extend the Tioga advantage to 15-2.
Greene hit a home run, and consecutive doubles to start the top of the sixth, closing the gap to 15-4. The Trojans loaded the bases with one out, but Luther retired to the next two batters to escape further damage.
The Tigers tacked on a final run in the bottom of the sixth on a lead-off single by Keaty, and an RBI double by Williams.
——————
IN PHOTO 1: Tioga’s RaeAnne Feeko. … PHOTOS BY MATT PATTON.
Print Friendly Version
