SECTION 4 SOFTBALL: EDISON RALLIES FROM 7-0 DOWN TO TOP WG/O-M AND ADVANCE TO SECTION 4 FINAL (24 PHOTOS) (2025-05-29)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
WATKINS GLEN — It was the second inning and Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour was in the middle of scoring six runs to take a 7-0 lead over the Edison Spartans.

Edison catcher Emily Aiello walked to the mound and talked to Aurora Parlo, telling her to let everything that had happened go. From that moment on Aiello, Parlo and the Spartans were a different team as they rallied for a 9-8 win over WG/O-M to reach the Section IV, Class B final.

Parlo allowed one run the rest of the game and Aiello hit a three-run home run, then later added a game-winning RBI.

“I told her let everything that happened go,” Aiello said. “This is our game still. I really think she realized, I have to have the confidence in this game. She knows she can pitch well. The whole time I was like, you are amazing, you can do it.”

It was a rough start for Edison, down 1-0 after one inning and 7-0 after two innings.

“It feels amazing,” Parlo said of the win. “At first, we were slow. But, I knew we had the team we had inside, and that showed with nine runs.”

“I cannot even put this into words,” Edison coach Liz Warren said. “A majority of our practice yesterday was mindset based, and how we respond to pressure. I think that showed more than anything today. To bd down 7-0 and come back and win 9-8 is absolutely insane and I’m so beyond proud.”

Down 7-0, the Spartans got two runs back in the third inning to cut the deficit to 7-2.

As Edison fought back, Parlo shut out Watkins Glen in the third and fourth innings.

“I just kept trying to think I know I can shut them down,” Parlo said. “And, I know their weak spots and I hit it and Emily called the pitches.”

For Parlo it was a big comfort to see the faith the coaches had in her, leaving her in the game after the six-run second inning.

“It felt great to feel the team confident in me and finally I’m confident in myself,” Parlo said.

Warren kept the faith in her sophomore pitcher.

“We have got our big dogs and we stick to them,” Warren said. “We know we can make changes if we need to, but we believe in everything they can do and I think they proved it today.”

Warren was impressed to see how Parlo put that inning quickly behind her.

“So impressed,” Warren said. “Especially as a sophomore, it shows a lot of maturity in her and the skill she has, and the IQ she has in this game to know she has the ability to keep shutting it down and just building back the faith in the team. Because to be honest, we didn’t have her back in the beginning, but to know they were going to come back and do that for her was big.”

Down five runs, Edison got within 7-4 in the fifth, and then Aiello launched a three-run home run to left to tie the game.

“I think that was pretty nice,” Aiello said. “I didn’t think it was going out. I thought it was just a pop up and then everyone was cheering for me. I was just glad I was able to make a correction after my first two at bats and put up some runs for the team.

“I was really excited, especially because we were down and I was excited I could get us back up.”

Warren has always had faith in her senior catcher.

“Emily ‘Clutch’ Aiello, I’ve been calling her that since sophomore year and it’s nice to be calling her that again,” Warren said. “I’m so insanely proud of her. I know she has been putting a lot of work into her swing.”

That home run got the whole team fired up.

“It was a relief, I knew we were back in this,” Parlo said.

Watkins retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth, 8-7, but Edison came back again in the seventh inning.

Charlee Stroman led off the seventh with a single and after an out was recorded, Kailey Ripley walked. Rosie Wheeler then doubled to bring home Stroman and Aiello hit a fly ball to center. She reached on an error, scoring Ripley with the go-ahead run.

“It feels pretty good (getting the win),” Aiello said. “Especially being able to come back and knowing we are going to be able to keep this momentum going later in the season. I hope we keep this energy.”

Watkins led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and the nerves were high for the Spartans.

“They were very scary, but with the last pitch I was like I know I can throw it, let’s get it over with,” Parlo said.

Watkins hit a ground ball to Parlo, who threw to Rosie Wheeler at second, who then fired to first to complete the double play.

“That’s something we work on,” Warren said. “I’m glad AP (Parlo) has such a cannon to throw to second base and Rosie can get it over quickly to first and I think it really did set the tone for that inning.”

And, it was big for Edison to put behind a rough defensive game, the team had six errors on the day, and refocus in the big moments.

“It wasn’t about the failures made,” Warren said. “Those are important of course, something to work on in practice, but the way they respond means everything and I think if they continue responding we have a good chance to go far this season.

“I am so proud of them. This is bigger than softball. It’s life lessons and things I hope they take with them and things I hope they know they can continue to push through any battle, any barrier and come out on top.”

That double play kind of took the wind out of the sails for Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour.

“I could tell Watkins kind of shut down,” Parlo said. “I was like I’ve got this last batter, we can do this.”

Aiello knew it was big to end the game right then and not Watkins get any momentum back.

“I was like this pitch, each pitch you have to win it right here.”

Parlo struck out nine, allowing seven hits and eight runs, just five earned, in the game.

Stromanj was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored and Maycie Bennett had two hits and a run scored.

Aiello had the home run with four RBI and a run scored an dParlo had a triple, an RBI and a run scored.

Wheeler had a hit, an RBI and a run scored and Carissa Cowan and Bela Moffe each had hits, with Moffe scoringg a run.

Ripley scored two runs in the game.

Olivia King had a double and a triplee and two runs scored for Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour.

Edison will face Susquehanna Valley, an 8-2 winner over Waverly, in the final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Greenlight Grand Slam Park in Binghamton.

“Third year in a row we are going to play for a sectional championship and hoping to bring it home,” Aiello said. “We want to go as far as we can, especially for us seniors, so winning tonight gives us the confidence we can pull through.

“We have nothing to lose,” Warren said. “We haven’t seen Susquehanna Valley yet. We were burned last year when we saw them, so we are ready to leave it on the field.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:



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