POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam softball team (2-6) split its final twin bill of the season with SUNY Canton (2-21) on Thursday afternoon. The Kangaroos took game one 6-2 and Potsdam rebounded for a 9-7 win in the finale. Sophomore centerfielder Anna Grottola (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) led the Bears offensively with a 3-for-6 day along with three RBI and a run scored. Senior right fielder Abby Hodgdon (Hammond, N.Y./Hammond) had two long doubles and three RBI. Freshman pitcher Anna Brown (Ellenburg Depot, N.Y./Northern Adirondack) picked up her first career victory in game two and was 2-for-4 from the plate with two runs scored.
 
In the opener, Canton junior pitcher Kayla Chavarri (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) (2-10) was in control for the complete game victory. She allowed just two runs on four hits while striking out 10 in the 6-2 win.
 
Canton scored a run in each of the first three innings and then doubled its lead with three in the fourth. Chavarri drove in the first run of the game in the top of the first with a single up the middle. Junior catcher Mackenzie Currie (Henrietta, N.Y./Rush Henrietta) and senior second baseman Shaylyn DeVito (Russell, N.Y./Edwards-Knox) each had RBI singles in the fourth.
 
The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the third as Grottola ripped a triple to centerfield that plated Anna Brown. Potsdam added a run in the bottom of the seventh as junior catcher Hailey LaGiudice (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) knocked in junior first baseman Abby Vaughn (Apalachin, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) with a sacrifice bunt.
 
Graduate student pitcher Megan Fish (0-4) was the tough luck loser, allowing just two earned runs and 12 hits over seven innings.
 
Currie finished the contest going 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Canton junior first baseman Jordan Knapp (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) was 3-for-4 with two runs and DeVito was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI.
 
For the Bears' offense, Grottola was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Vaughn and Anna Brown also had hits.
 
 
In game two, the teams traded big innings and leads. The finale was scoreless until Potsdam broke out with six runs in the bottom of the second inning.
 
Senior third baseman Sidney Miller (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls), Vaughn and LaGiudice recorded consecutive one-out singles to load the bases. Miller was then erased on a fielder's choice play at the plate. Hodgdon then followed with a bases-clearing double off the left field fence to make it 3-0. Junior shortstop Vanessa Brandt (Saugerties, N.Y./Saugerties) singled to push Hodgdon to third and stole second base. Grottola reached on an error and scored Hodgdon to increase the lead to four. After Grottola stole second, Fish singled to center, scoring Brandt and Grottola to make it 6-0.
 
The Kangaroos got one back in the top of the third as Currie knocked in freshman centerfielder Hailey Bentley (Ovid, N.Y./South Seneca) with a single to center.
 
Canton then took the lead with a six-run fourth inning. Sophomore left fielder Angelina LoPiccolo (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memoria) led off with a blast over the left field fence to make it 6-2. With the bases loaded, junior shortstop Sophia Harris (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) walked to force in senior designated player Felicity Machado (Brooklyn, N.Y./Essex Street Academy). Consecutive wild pitches scored junior right fielder Madison Austin (Nicholville, N.Y./St. Regis Falls) and Bentley to close the gap to 6-5. Chavarri then gave the Roos their only lead of the contest with a single that scored Currie and Harris.
 
The Bears immediately responded with two in the bottom of the fourth to go up 8-7. Hodgdon led off with a double to left. Brandt moved her to third with a single up the middle. Grottola then tied the game with sacrifice fly to left. Fish followed with a sacrifice fly to center that knocked in Brandt for the eventual game-winning run. Potsdam then tacked on an insurance run on Grottola's double down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Brown then worked in and out of jams for the remainder of the contest, scattering four hits and stranding five baserunners. Canton started a two-out rally in the top of the seventh, but Austin was thrown out at the plate by Bears senior second baseman Morgan Brown (Duvall, Wash./Cedarcrest) to end the game.
 
Anna Brown (1-2) allowed seven runs on eight hits and struck out two. Canton junior pitcher Alaina Beane (Munnsville, N.Y./Stockbridge Valley) allowed nine runs, six earned, on 12 hits and struck out five.
 
Bentley was 1-for-3 with two runs for Canton. Harris was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Currie was 2-for-2 with an RBI, a run and two walks. Chavarri was 1-for-4 with two RBI. LoPiccolo was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
 
Brandt was the fire starter for Potsdam, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Grottola was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Fish was 1-for-3 with three RBI. Hodgdon was 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBI. Vaughn and LaGiudice were each 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
The contests mark the completion of a season that saw the Bears battle both COVID and the weather. It's also the final game for seniors Fish, Miller, Hodgdon and Morgan Brown.
 
Fish finishes her offensive career with a .319 average, .395 slugging percentage, .372 on-base percentage, 105 hits, 54 RBI, 46 runs and 19 doubles. On the mound she was 9-27 with a 4.68 earned-run average and 88 strikeouts in 263 innings pitched. In program history, she ranks sixth in doubles and RBI and seventh in hits, batting average, on-base percentage and at-bats (329). She's 10th in slugging and runs and ninth in total bases (130). She's got the fifth lowest E.R.A. and is seventh in wins and ninth in strikeouts. Only two Bears have thrown more innings.
 
Miller wraps up her career with 37 hits, including 10 doubles along with 28 RBI. Hodgdon hit .318 with seven hits in 22 at-bats. She also scored 13 runs and drove in four. Brown hit .297 (11-37) with seven RBI and two runs.