DANSVILLE — One of the constants this spring for the Dansville softball team has been pitching .
The junior duo of Ryker Graf and Laci Neal has been dominant in the circle, giving the Aggies a chance to win each time they take the field.
That again was the case in the Division 4 regional on Saturday, June 6.
Graf delivered a strong performance in the championship game and finished with 13 strikeouts. But the Aggies just couldn’t generate enough offense as their season ended with a 3-1 loss to Petersburg Summerfield on their home field.
The Aggies had their season end in a regional final for the second straight season. The loss was the first for Dansville since late April, but coach Bill Sherwood said he couldn’t be more proud of what his team accomplished this spring.
“This team, they are tight and they have a good time they hang out together,” Sherwood said. “They just jelled. We had a little rough start and then they went on a big winning streak and kept winning and playing well and having fun. And they have fun and I just told them to keep having fun.”
Saturday’s loss ended a 24-game winning streak for Dansville, which had suffered its last loss to Bath in the opening game of a CMAC doubleheader on April 28. The Aggies (28-6) struggled to piece together any offense Saturday outside of an opening inning that featured a solo home run from Neal to center field.
Dansville also got a single by Katie Hamel in that first inning, but did not get another hit the rest of the way.
Claire Franzen put Summerfield up with a two-run double to left field in the fourth inning. The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the seventh.
“We just ran into a little bit of a buzz saw today,” Sherwood said. “We couldn’t really score. We got one in the bottom of the first And then I thought maybe we would go on a roll. She was just a little bit different a lefty and maybe through a little bit of junk. We just couldn’t adjust and came up a little short.”
Dansville reached the regional final with a 9-5 win over Hudson earlier in the day.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lengthy win streak for Dansville softball ends in regional final
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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By Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
