For the second year in a row, the Corning softball team’s season came to a close at the hands of Section 6 champion Lancaster.
After being held without a base runner through the first five innings by Corning ace Matti Johnston, the Legends scored three times in the bottom of the sixth before securing a 3-1 victory in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AAA regional final/state quarterfinal at Gates-Chili High School.
Alyssa Brunner homered to right-center field to lead off the sixth for defending state champion Lancaster, ending Johnston’s perfect game and knotting the score.
Isabella DiMino singled and scored on an error to give Lancaster a 2-1 lead. Abigail DiMino added an RBI single with two outs for a two-run cushion.
Corning’s Katie Grover collected a one-out single in the seventh inning, but the Hawks couldn’t come up with the offense that had propelled them to an 18-0 record and No. 1 Class AAA ranking coming into the contest.
That came down largely to the pitching of Maddy Matthews, who finished with a five-hitter. She struck out eight and walked one.
Corning’s lone run came in the first inning after Johnston led off with a single. She scored when Sophie Schoonover’s high pop-up dropped in the infield.
Johnston allowed three hits over six innings, with seven strikeouts and no walks. Two of Lancaster’s runs were unearned.
Grover and Schoonover had two hits each.
Lancaster topped Corning, 6-3, in last year’s state semifinals at Binghamton’s Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park. The Legends went on to beat Massapequa, 4-2, in the championship game.
Corning was seeking a third consecutive trip to the final four. The Hawks won the inaugural Class AAA championship two years ago.
Lancaster (14-5) will play Section 2’s Saratoga Springs in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. Friday, June 12 at Greenlight Park.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Corning’s first loss comes in NYS Class AAA softball quarterfinals
Reporting by Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
