Elmira celebrated the opening of its new softball stadium Monday afternoon. Tough part for the Express is Corning felt right at home at Elmira's new digs.
The Hawks turned 11 hits, 10 walks and aggressive base running into an 18-2 Southern Tier Athletic Conference victory at Elmira High School. A 10-run fourth inning was followed by a five-run fifth, the final inning thanks to the mercy rule.
Stars of the Game
Corning's Matti Johnston went 3-for-3 with four runs and five RBIs. She opened the day with a double off the fence in left-center field before pulling the first homer in stadium history, a three-run shot, over the right-field fence in the final inning. She added three shutout innings of relief.
Corning's Peyton Sullivan went 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Emelia Smith and Sophie Schoonover each had two hits and two RBIs, and Daphne Sherman tripled, scored three and drove in two.
Addison Taft was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Elmira.
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What It Means
Corning solidified its status as STAC West leader with a 6-1 league record to go with a 9-3 overall mark. With Ithaca without a team, the Hawks have two league games remaining in an abbreviated STAC schedule.
Defending champion Horseheads had a 2-3 record through Monday, meaning the Blue Raiders would have to win their remaining four STAC games and Corning lose its two to force a tiebreaker.
Elmira (5-7-1, 1-5-1) and Corning have a guaranteed third meeting in the Section 4 Class AAA final since they are the section's only AAA teams. Last year Corning topped Elmira for the Class AA sectional crown .
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More: Opening of Elmira High baseball stadium brings first no-hitter in Express history
Quotable
Corning coach Mike Johnston Jr. on his team's performance : "I thought we hit the ball really well. I thought our base running was an integral part of what we did offensively as well. Still got so many things we’ve got to work on and get better at. This is the first day we’ve worn shorts as coaches. Finally some nice weather. We weren’t able to go south this year, which always gives us an early start getting outside. We’ve played some good competition. I was pleased today. Our three losses are to undefeated, No. 1 in the state Vestal, North Penn-Liberty, who’s four in the state of Pennsylvania and who’s 13-0. And we lost to Abington Heights out of Pennsylvania, who’s 9-3."
Johnston on a looming third game with Elmira : "We know we’re going to play each other. Our goal right now, we’re not even thinking about sectionals. We want to win the league title and that will get us an opportunity to play more games during the regular season."
Elmira coach Tammy Woodard on the new stadium : "As far as I know being a member of this community for the 40 years plus I’ve been in the community, I don’t think that either Southside or Elmira Free Academy ever got a brand new stadium or brand new field to play on. So the fact we have a brand new field and baseball has a brand new field to open up, it’s pretty exciting. It’s kind of the unpolished stone right now, but we’re going to take it and enjoy it. There’s a few little things cosmetically that have to be taken care of, but for the most part they’re very miniscule for what you’re looking at across the board."
Woodard on what Elmira can take from Monday's game : "The biggest thing we continue to talk about in practice and work on in practice is the mental focus piece. Sometimes just really having to execute plays or drills of things and putting them to use. Obviously we know Corning is very well coached, they’ve always been a tough opponent. ... This game we were unable to execute some things we worked on in practice and just kind of that mental focus piece we need to continue to bite at."
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare . You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com . To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: HS Softball: Corning offense steals show in Elmira stadium opener
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