The 2019 season got off to a rough start for the Tompkins Cortland Community College softball team Thursday as the Panthers dropped a doubleheader to Erie Community College, 28-1 and 19-0. Tompkins Cortland is 0-2 while Erie is now 4-2 on the year.
Erie 28, Tompkins Cortland 1 (5 innings)
Not much went right for the Panthers all day, starting from the first inning of the first game. Erie jumped in front with an inside-the-park home run by the second batter of the game, part of a three-run first inning for the Kats. Erie added seven runs in the second, six in the third, seven in the fourth, and five more in the fifth. The lone run of the day for the Panthers came in the fourth, with Amanda Green Lansing/Lansing H.S.) driving in Kimberly Duda (Homer/Homer H.S.).
Paige Graham (Groton/Groton H.S.) had half of the team's four hits, going 2-for-3. In addition to Green, Lucinda Lee (Greene/Greene H.S.) also had a single in game one.
Erie 19, Tompkins Cortland 0 (5 innings)
After the break between game one and two, Erie's offense picked up right where it left off. The Kats scored 10 runs on just three hits in the first inning, taking advantage of seven walks and three hit batters. Five more runs in the second and four in the third put the game out of reach, leaving the only drama as to whether the Panthers would be no-hit. After going four and two-thirds of an inning without a baserunner, Elizabeth Ripley (Moravia/Home School) came through as the last chance to prevent a no-hitter, reaching on a clean single. Duda followed with her second hit of the doubleheader, but that's where it ended, sending the Panthers down to a shutout defeat.
Looking ahead
The Panthers host nationally ranked Monroe Community College Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.