Spartans Drop Road Games to Hurricanes

Starting the season on the road, the Cayuga Community College Softball Team dropped a pair of games to a solid Paul D. Camp Community College squad.

In their first two games of the 2020 season, the Spartans fell 11-3 and 10-0 to the Hurricanes on Saturday. The contests provided the young Spartans roster with valuable experience, said Cayuga Coach Chris Amoia.

"We have a young roster who saw the quality of play and the speed of the game at the college level," said Amoia. "They're a very well-coached, athletic team. It was good for us to play against this level of competition."

The Spartans started strong in the first game, taking an early 1-0 lead through an aggressive approach at the plate. Their bats cooled, though, and the Hurricanes took advantage of a few Cayuga mistakes in the field to finish with the 11-3 win. 

Mikaela Withers, Deanna Shackleton, Abigail Basile and Kate Stoddard each tallied hits for Cayuga in the first game, and Shackleton took the loss as the Spartans' pitcher.

Cayuga wasn't able to restart their offense in the second game, with Withers, Kyra Cottrill and Tori Mandel picking up the Spartans' hits. Cottrill took the loss for Cayuga.

The slow start hasn't deterred the Spartans, said Amoia. They're already eager to get back on the field.

"These two games are behind us. We have to keep working hard, limit our mistakes and get the bats going," said Amoia.

Cayuga plays Paul D. Camp again on Sunday, March 8. First pitch is at noon.