OLEAN — The Chautauqua Lake softball team still lamented last season.
In 2024, the Eagles had reached the Section VI Class C title game under new coach Katherine Yudin, but suffered a stinging 3-0 defeat. Worse, the loss came at the hands of their rival, Westfield.
A year later — and for the third-straight campaign — Chautauqua Lake was back on the championship stage, this time on a slightly drizzly evening at the Olean Middle School. It vowed, in this instance, to seize the opportunity.
And Cayzlee Johnson, the team’s star pitcher and lone senior, made sure it did.
In a masterful effort, Johnson struck out 12 and surrendered just two hits to lead No. 2 Chautauqua Lake to a 2-0 triumph over top-seeded Barker in the Class C final on Friday. It marked the first Section VI plaque since 2018 for the Eagles, who will meet the eventual Section 5 victor in next Friday’s Far West Regional at Frontier High School.
“It’s great,” Yudin said afterward. “I am so proud of this group of girls. They’re a lot of fun, they work hard, they’re dedicated, they show every single day looking to get better and I could not ask for more from (them).
“I think a lot of the girls, in the back of their mind, were thinking about that feeling from last year. They had a bad taste in their mouth and they wanted it this year, and they went out and got it for sure.”
In a pitchers’ duel where both Johnson and standout Barker freshman Madyson Flint shone bright, the former came out on top.
Johnson allowed just one baserunner to reach scoring position — on her lone walk and a stolen base in a 1-0 game in the fifth inning. But she struck out the next batter to end the threat, erased a leadoff single in the sixth and notched a 1-2-3 seventh to seal it. Flint was similarly strong for Barker, fanning 10, issuing one walk and escaping a couple of jams to keep the Eagles at one run until the seventh.
“It was definitely tough, but all the girls had my back,” Johnson said. “They’re definitely behind me every step of the way and they said this is the year that we’re gonna do it and they’re going to give me the best last ride I could ask for, and honestly this team will go down as one of my favorites.”
Jill Miller posted an RBI double to score Lucy Ulsh, who’d singled, and give the Eagles (15-3) a 1-0 lead in the third. Chautauqua Lake loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and had second and third with one out in the fifth, but couldn’t scratch a run across against Flint. In the seventh, however, it managed a big insurance run, with Alice Scarpine singling and eventually scoring via an outfield error on a shot to the outfield from Johnson.
“You gotta hand it to Barker,” Yudin said. “Their pitcher did a phenomenal job tonight, she threw a lot of strikes. We struggled early on, but it was nice seeing the girls make adjustments along the way. We knew if we put the ball in play, we would make things happen, and that’s kind of what we did.”
Karagan Fairbank notched a pair of singles and Miller made a tremendous diving play on a ground ball to get the final out in the sixth. Johnson doubled in the sixth for the Eagles, who finished with seven hits.
“She’s been throwing strikes for us all year long, stepping up on the mound and at the plate,” Yudin said of Johnson. “She’s a phenomenal leader. I’m happy that she was able to step up today, throw strikes and (lead this victory).”
Aine Davis and Madelina Pavlock recorded the two hits for Barker (17-5). The Bulldogs, playing in their first sectional title game since 2016 after being upset in last year’s semifinals, fell just shy of their first Section 6 crown in program history.
In the end, Yudin’s “super young” Eagles, who start four eighth-graders, a freshman and a sophomore, manufactured just enough offense against the equally young Bulldogs, who played seven girls who are sophomores or younger.
“We had a few solid hits to the outfield that they made the plays on,” Yudin said of Barker, “but definitely getting that second insurance run was big going into the (bottom of the seventh).”
Said Johnson, “Coming in, we knew Barker wanted it, so the emotions were high, but our biggest thing was being patient and playing the game that we’ve been playing. As a senior, the nerves got to me, but … I buckled down and did what the team needed me to do.”
Barker finished the season 17-5.