STAC SOFTBALL: CORNING REBOUNDS FROM EARLY DEFICIT TO TOP HORSEHEADS AND WIN STAC WEST (24 PHOTOS) (2025-05-17)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
CORNING — It wasn’t the start the Corning Hawks wanted, but the response was everything they could have ever hoped for.

Down 3-0 in the top of the first inning, the Corning Hawks turned the ball over to an 8th grader on the mound, and she delivered, as did the Hawks defense with an 11-run bottom of the first on their way to a win over Horseheads 15-12.

The game was a tie-breaker for the STAC West Championship and the Hawks now advance to the STAC Tournament on Sunday.

Horseheads came out swinging a hot bat as Megan Wolf took the first pitch of the game deep, and then Aubrey Howe hit a two-run home run in the inning.

“Not the start (we wanted),” Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. said. “First pitch of the game and Megan Wolf showed why she’s going to play D1 softball and Caitlin Yearick is going to play D1 softball. One is going to Binghamton, one is going to St. John’s. Their kids can hit and you never have enough runs when you play against them. I think we have been together for the past seven days Corning and Horseheads between rain delays, running out of daylight, starting over, turning around the next day.

“I’m proud of the kids. I’m really proud we came back in the bottom of the first and scored 11 runs and the job Emelia (Smith) as an eighth grader did on the mound and she came in and that’s why we continue to reinforce the game doesn’t know how old you are. You have to come in and do your job and she did that and our defense got stronger when we put Matti (Johnston) in centerfield, then we could put people back in their original positions and Emelia just had to keep the ball down and we had to make some plays behind her.”

The past week has been a trying time for the two teams. They started a game eight days ago. Mother Nature had other plans and the game was halted in the first inning. The matchup was then scheduled for Tuesday, but postponed due to weather. The game was played Thursday, but ended in a 10-10 tie when it had to be stopped due to darkness. STAC rules required the game to be restarted on Friday in Horseheads. Horseheads won that game, setting up Saturday’s tie-breaker game for the division.

On top of that, Corning played Vestal on Monday and Elmira on Wednesday. They’ve played five games in the past six days, and Johnston had pitched in every one of them. And, all those games were against good lineups, that made Johnston have to throw a lot of pitches.

“You play Sonny Taft (of Elmira) going to Bucknell on Wednesday. We beat Vestal the first of the week, they are the No. 1 seed in the Metro, then we turn right back around and we have Horseheads and like a scrimmage (the game that ended in a tie and didn’t wind up counting), and she (Johnston) threw 166 pitches in that game and then turns around yesterday and threw 99. We rolled the dice (by switching to Smith) and Emelia came through for us.”

It was definitely a long week for Johnston on the mound, but she’s always ready to do anything for her team, including moving to centerfield on Saturday as Smith moved to the mound.

“I really trust her (Smith) and I trust everyone around me,” Johnston said. “It’s a lot (pitching so many games in a week), but anything for this team. Id’ do anything for them.”

Corning was down, but they fought right back, and batted around in that bottom of the first inning.

“We were ready for this game, we prepared ourselves, we were one today,” Johnston said.

“Obviously we were kind of nervous, but we just had to have confidence and go out there and know we are going to play how we play,” senior Kendall Curreri said.

Johnston Jr. was happy to see how the team came together in the bottom of the first.

“Great team effort,” he said. “I thought everyone contributed in one way or another, especially in the bottom of the first inning when they could have given up. Just took the momentum and put it right back, the energy in our dugout.”

Horseheads got a run in the third, two in the fourth, three in the sixth and three in the seventh, but Corning added runs in the second and fourth and two in the sixth and Smith was able to close out the win.

“Pressure is a privilege,” Smith said of the chance to face a tough team.

“She was really excited to have the opportunity to face really good batters,” Johnston said of her teammate.

The Hawks turned multiple double plays in the game and that helped calm down the eighth-grade pitcher.

“I don’t think I could have done it without my defense, defense was a big part of it,” Smith said.

Curreri made a number of the big plays at shortstop.

“Honestly, just the practice we do, trust our training,” Curreri said. “Keep your head down and do what you do.”

Smith, just knew she had to work on not letting the big bats for Horseheads make good contact with the ball.

“I really tried to work on my spin,” she said.

Johnston Jr. loves the composure that Smith has on the mound.

“The thing with her is she never shows her emotions,” Johnston Jr. said. “You never know what she’s thinking, whether she’s nervous, whether she’s confident, and that’s a good thing sometimes as an eighth grader that you have that composure.

“We tell all the kids don’t get ready, be ready and today was her day and she responded and we are really proud of her.”

Johnston also kept her composure. After giving up the early runs, and moving to center field she could have hung her head, but she came out and was a key part of the offense, singling to start the big first inning, then she walked in the inning and she hit a home run later in the game.

“That’s the beauty of Matti,” Johnston Jr. said. “The same thing, she just brushes things off and goes to the next pitch. She knows she’s human. She makes some mistakes sometimes, but she always rebounds to make a big play, or hit a home run, or lay down a bunt to move runners.”

And, Johnston knew that her team would come back after the early deficit.

“I have 100% confidence in this team and I think we can come back from anything,” Johnston said.

Johnston got the first two outs of the game and Smith worked the next 6 1/3 innings, with a strikeout.

Smith also had two hits with a triple, with two RBI and two runs scored and Johnston had two hits, with the home run, an RBI and three runs scored.

Curreri had two hits, with a double, two RBI and three runs scored and Sophia Schoonover had two hits and scored a run.

Mia Madden had two hits and scored two runs and Daphne Sherman had a hit and an RBI, while Keana Mann had a hit, two RBI and two runs scored and Lauren Teribury had a hit and two RBI, while Kayleigh Sparks scored a run.

Wolf was 4-for-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. She homered in back-to-back games. Dylan Young and Samantha Bonenlls each had two hits, with Bonnell scoring two runs and Young driving one in.

Burge and Howe had home runs, with two RBI each. It’s Burge’s second home run in two days, and third in three days, though the first game doesn’t technically count.

Yearick had a hit and scored two runs and Chloe Perritt had a hit, two RBI and a run scored, while Grace Cronin and Presley McInnis each had hits, with Cronin driving in a run.

Raegan Burge worked two innings for Horsreheads, with two strikeouts, and Wolf struck out nine in four innings of relief.

Corning plays in the STAC semifinals at Green Light Grand Slam Park at noon against Chenango Valley. On the other side of the bracket Vestal plays Susquehanna at noon. The winners meet in the final at 2:30 p.m.

The semifinal will be the sixth game of the week for Corning, who could play 7 games in 7 days if they make the final.

“I don’t think we ever have (played so many games in one week in H.S.), but I think we are excited for the opportunity, for the chance to try and win tomorrow,” Johnston said.

“We are tired, but we are very grateful we get to play more,” Curreri said.
————
PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:


Print Friendly Version