By Rosie Sculco
The Plattsburgh State softball team (10-25, 7-11) is heading back to the SUNYAC playoffs after grabbing two wins to start the weekend before dropping the final pair in a hard fought four-game stretch.
“We might not have had the results we had hoped for across the board this season, number and score wise but now it’s anyone’s game,” junior captain Megan Pillus wrote in a text. “Everyone starts back at square one.”
The Cards hit the road to take on SUNY Morrisville (9-19-1, 3-13-1) in a doubleheader contest on May 2.
Plattsburgh was set to head to SUNY Cortland (20-14, 16-2) for another doubleheader with a start time of 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
The games were pushed back an hour because of rain. Cortland’s field was in no condition to be played on, so the team traveled to a turf field at Onondaga Community College.
MORRISVILLE
The berth of post-season play was secured in the conference sweep of the Mustangs as the Cards rallied for 17 hits to Morrisville’s seven for the day.
“We went into the weekend knowing what the job was and knowing that we had prepared all season to get it done,” senior pitcher Carly Gemmett wrote in a text.
In game one, Plattsburgh only needed one run to secure the win.
That run was scored in the first inning as junior Gwen Noll walked and stole second base to start the game.
Noll moved over to third on a groundout in the next at-bat and then came around to score on sophomore Sara Isaac’s sacrifice fly.
This was all Gemmett needed, as she did not allow a Morrisville runner to get past second base all day.
It was not until the top of the fourth inning that the Mustangs got a hit, but with two outs in the inning, Gemmett forced a pop-up from the next batter to end the threat.
In the fifth, the Mustangs had another chance, after back-to-back walks, but with two outs, Gemmett struck out the batter to end the inning and keep Plattsburgh ahead.
The Cardinals looked to score again in their last chance in the seventh inning as Noll had an infield single and stole another base, but she was left on while in scoring position.
While Morrisville had one more shot at redemption in game one, Gemmett worked around a single by striking out the next batter and ending the game with a fielder’s choice to give the Cards the win 1-0.
Gemmett went seven strong innings, finishing with three walks, striking out 10 batters and only allowing two hits.
Behind Gemmett, her offense was led by Noll, who tallied one hit and one run.
Isaacs was 1-2 with the only RBI while senior Sarah Milyko had the only other hit for the Cards, finishing 1-2.
“As a team, we focused on one play, one inning, one game at a time and not allowing ourselves to jump ahead or look too far down the road,” Gemmett wrote.
In game two, Plattsburgh scored eight runs to Morrisville’s five.
The Cards took an early lead in game two, as an error on a stolen base attempt allowed Noll to score and give the Cards a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 until the third inning when Plattsburgh added three runs.
Isaacs brought in Noll with a single to left, and first-year Bella Toleman brought home a Cardinal run with a single to left as well.
Sophomore Emma Deo followed with an RBI to score Pillus and put Plattsburgh up 4-0.
The Mustangs started their attempted comeback in the third inning, scoring two runs to make it a 4-2 game.
In the fourth inning, a Plattsburgh error allowed two runs to score, tying the game 4-4.
Another error allowed another Morrsiville score, giving them the lead 5-4.
The Mustangs would finish with those five runs as the Cards were far from finished.
In the seventh inning, first-year Meghan Stork singled to lead off the inning, and Isaacs followed with a single, moving Stork to third.
Pillus then tied the game for Plattsburgh, hitting a ball deep to center field, scoring Stork.
Toleman followed with her third hit of the day, and Deo walked, which loaded the bases for the Cardinals.
Sophomore Michelle DeFina completed her at bat with a hit that scored two runs and gave Plattsburgh a 7-5 lead.
First-year Mikayla Pappas brought a run with an RBI groundout, pushing the lead to 8-5.
Toleman led the offense in game two, going 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
Isaacs was 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Noll was 2-5 with two runs scored and three stolen bases.
After the game two win, Noll now has 25 stolen bases on the season, approaching the program record of 33 by Brittany Marshall ‘15
Pappas had two hits and an RBI on the day for Plattsburgh State.
In the circle, junior Morgan Ormerod went 3.1 innings and allowed just one earned run.
Sophomore Cadey Wheat went 2.2 innings in relief, allowing one unearned run, and then Gemmett earned the save with a 1-2-3 in the seventh inning.
After the sweep, the Cardinals clinched a playoff berth, which they missed last year but were present in the 2022-2023 season.
“We worked all season to make it back to the playoffs, and now that we have, I think we have to remember that we aren’t done yet and it’s up to us how much longer our season is going to go,” Pillus wrote.
CORTLAND
After dropping two games to Cortland, the Cardinals clinched a six-seed spot in the SUNYAC tournament.
“We knew Cortland was going to be a tough team as they always are, but going in with two wins definitely helped with our overall confidence,” Gemmett wrote. “Having a chance to come together and get all the pieces together allowed us to walk into Cortland on a little bit of a high.”
Cortland got on the board and scored a run in the first inning on a sacrifice fly, and added three more runs in the second inning, giving them the early 4-0 lead.
The Cardinals’ first hit of the game came in the fourth inning as Pillus singled and then defended the bottom half of the inning as Gemmett went 1-2-3.
In the fifth, Deo singled, and sophomore Leila Toomey came in as a pinch runner and stole second, putting herself in scoring position.
However, the Cardinals only had one out to spare, and the next batter was retired on a groundout.
A Plattsburgh error to start the inning allowed Cortland to score another run. However, Gemmett retired the next three batters, limiting the Red Dragons to one, and they led 5-0.
A walk from Stork in the top of the sixth inning put a runner on for Plattsburgh, but the Cortland defense recorded an inning-ending double play to get out.
With three base hits, Cortland tacked on three more runs in their turn of the inning, earning an 8-0 run-rule win.
“Cortland is definitely a tough team,” Pillus wrote. “They have a really strong program, and I think going into the game, we knew it was going to be tough competition and that we would really have to fight.”
In game two, both teams got after it early, recording a 1-1 score at the end of the first inning.
Two errors by the Cortland defense caused Issacs to reach first, and a single from Pillus and another Cortland error allowed Issacs to score.
Cortland responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning and tied the game at one.
Cortland tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second innin,g giving them a 3-1 lead.
After three straight Cortland hits and two more runs, the Cards brought in Ormerod in relief ,and she retired the next batter before forcing a groundout to end the inning with Cortland leading 5-1.
The Cardinals had an opportunity to cut the Red Dragons’ lead in the top of the fourth inning when Toleman leadoff with a single.
DeFina’s single moved Toleman into scoring position with two outs, but she was left on to end the inning.
Cortland extended its lead by one in the fifth inning, 6-1, and both pitchers went 1-2-3 in the sixth. However, all batters were retired in Plattsburgh’s last chance at a comeback, securing the Cortland 6-1 win.
“We didn’t walk away with the results we had hoped for, but we still left excited to head into the playoffs,” Pillus wrote. “Now we know the level of play that these teams are bringing, we have seen what everyone is capable of, and now we know what we need to do.”
The Cards hit the road and took on the number three-seeded Buffalo State Bengals (20-16, 14-4) on May 8 in the first round of the 2025 SUNYAC Tournament.
“I have loved my time at Plattsburgh,” Gemmett wrote. “We have all worked so hard this season, and all have the same goal and mindset, and I would love nothing more than to go all the way with these girls.”
