Section 4 Class AA softball: Rally against rival Corning gives Horseheads title

Three home runs in the final two innings helped Horseheads get even with Corning after playing catch-up all day. A two-bouncer through the infield off the bat of Molly Wolf provided the deciding runs as the Blue Raiders captured the Section 4 Class AA softball championship with a 7-5 win at the BAGSAI Complex in Binghamton.

Horseheads earned its second sectional title since 2009 and first since beating Corning four years ago. The Hawks had the upper hand in big games against the Blue Raiders since then, including last year's sectional final.

"We were so excited to play them again and just knew it was our turn," said Horseheads' Olivia Packard, who followed Molly Wolf's homer with one of her own to bring the Blue Raiders within 5-4 in the sixth inning.

Said Wolf: "They're a great team. It's a hard-earned win for us and we're really proud of what we did."

Stars of the game

Winning pitcher Megan Wolf delivered the biggest home run, leading off the seventh with a shot beyond the fence in center field to tie the score, 5-5.

Wolf, a freshman, went the distance on the mound against a Corning lineup filled with future Division I college talent and allowed five runs on eight hits, striking out eight and walking five.

Molly Wolf, her sister, went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Packard was also 2-for-3 and Rachel Lunger smacked a two-out, two-run double in the fourth inning to get the Raiders within 3-2.

Ellie DeRosa was 2-for-3 with a homer for two-time defending sectional champ Corning (18-2). Kellie Zoerb tripled, doubled and drove in a run. Atalyia Rijo, a University of Arkansas commit, closed one of the top prep careers in Section 4 history with a double and an RBI.

"She's a great player. To know we can compete with her is a really good feeling," Molly Wolf said of Rijo.

Rivalry rematch goes Horseheads' way

Corning was a 10-9 winner over Horseheads in the 2021 sectional final and beat the Raiders twice this season: 9-6 in 11 innings on Kelsey Booker's walk-off homer and 8-3.

Packard said the extra-inning loss gave Horseheads confidence it could beat Corning, which is ranked third in the state in Class AA and was technically defending state champion since this year's state tournament will be the first since the Hawks won it all in 2019.

"We’ve had some battles with them the last two years," Horseheads coach Rick Gryska said. "It’s been up-down, up-down. We had an extra-inning game there last year and then we lost on a walk-off this year.

"We know that’s a very talented team. They deserve to be ranked third in the state with that lineup they have. But I’ve been telling these girls all along, we can beat them, I know we can. If we just outhit them. Fortunately we did today."

Huge seventh inning for Raiders freshman

Megan Wolf fell into an 0-2 hole to start her at-bat in the seventh before working back to 3-2. She then swatted a home run and exuberantly rounded the bases, adding shortly after the game she didn't really remember the home run trot.

"That felt so good," she said. "We tied it, the worst we could do is go play the seventh and we did it."

DeRosa, a George Mason commit, led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and Booker followed with a walk. Out came Gryska for a chat that served a dual purpose. He told the outfielders to prioritize keeping the runner at first from getting the extra base on a hit rather than worry about a play at the plate. It also settled the moment.

"It definitely gave us all a chance to calm down and take a deep breath and just let ourselves get a little simmered down," Packard said. "We were at like an 11, we needed to be at a six."

But he didn't say a word to Megan Wolf, who said she focused on trying to get ground balls and had faith in her defense. She induced a pop-up for the first out and struck out the next batter. Gabby Beschler then fielded a grounder at third and forced out DeRosa to end the game.

Gryska told Megan after the game he was sticking with her no matter what.

"It feels great knowing my coach believes in me and knows that I can do it," she said. "Being a freshman, that’s something I really enjoy."

Day of clutch hits for Raiders

After Megan Wolf tied the score in the seventh, Horseheads loaded the bases with one out following a single by Beschler, a walk to Maddie Matkosky and a single by Eva Koratsis to center fielder DeRosa, who threw a laser home as Gryska held pinch-runner Katie Morse at third.

Molly Wolf followed with a bouncer off reliever Jillian Austin that went between Rijo at shortstop and second baseman Olivia Keegan, driving in two.

"They have an amazing infield and knowing that ball got through to score two runs just felt so good," Wolf said.

Packard followed with a single, but DeRosa threw out pinch-runner Kristen Cole at home.

An inning earlier, Molly Wolf and Packard hit back-to-back solo shots to get Horseheads within 5-4.

"Once I hit it, I knew she would build off me and she did," Wolf said. "She hit a bomb. That's still going."

Said Packard: "We play travel together and we’re always next to each other in the lineup and I feel like we really feed off each other’s momentum."

Gryska didn't want his players cheated on swings Saturday.

"We did a lot of talking this week about not taking passive swings," he said. "Taking aggressive swings, especially when you’re ahead in the count 1-0, 2-1, those kinds of situations. … We did not hit any balls opposite field off of tees this week because I wanted them to be out in front and aggressive on the pitch. And I think that paid off."

Quotable

"I sent them a message last night and told them they deserve this," Gryska said. "They deserve it because they’re good people, they work hard, they’re good students in school, they’re just an all-around fun group, they’re great teammates to each other. They deserve to win and they did it."

Up next

Horseheads (11-7) will play the winner of the sub-regional between the champions from Section 9 and Section 1 in a state quarterfinal June 4 at Lakeland High School in Westchester County.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Horseheads rallied past Corning in Section 4 Class AA softball final