CENTRAL NEW YORK – All through the long, wait for high school baseball to resume, Westhill had one opponent in mind, remembering how Skaneateles had beaten them in an epochal 2019 Section III Class B title game that required 14 innings to be decided.
Now the two sides were together again, meeting last Tuesday afternoon, and the result proved different as the Warriors, needing only seven innings, beat the Lakers 7-3.
Over the course of the first three innings, the Warriors steadily pecked away at Lakers starter Bryce Lincoln, eventually building a 5-1 lead.
The Lakers cut the margin in half, only to have Westhill score twice in the bottom of the sixth to restore its cushion as Jake Zawadzki netted three singles, two stolen bases and two runs scored.
Mike Madigan singled twice, walked and drove in two runs, with Ben King scoring twice. Tyler Campbell, Geoff Daniul and Aiden Kerr had one RBI apiece.
Campbell pitched four innings, sharing the duties with Nick Havilland, the pair combining for 10 strikeouts, Joe Bruna led the Lakers with two doubles and a single, Nate Shattuck adding a pair of hits.
Great as this win was, Westhill couldn’t make it carry over as another main rival, Solvay, handed the Warriors its first defeat of the season two days later in an 8-7, eight-inning epic.
Mostly due to a five-run third inning, the Bearcats built up a 7-1 advantage and were on the brink of victory until Westhill made a stunning comeback, striking for six runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie it.
Somehow, the Bearcats recovered from this to plate a run in the top of the eighth and then record the final three outs to hang on.
Carter Lee, who pitched five scoreless innings, also drove in three runs to lead the Bearcats at the plate. Antonio Gonazlez and Zach Bowen each scored twice as Campbell got two hits and two RBIs for the Warriors.
Solvay beat Homer 10-9 two nights before facing Westhill, led again by Lee, who doubled twice, singled and drove in four runs. Anthony Berry and Jordan Dippold also had three-hit outings for the Bearcats.
Right before facing Westhill, Skaneateles had gone to Falcon Park last Monday and knocked off Auburn 5-3 in a back-and-forth battle between the Route 20 rivals.
Modest leads of 2-1 and 3-2 by the Lakers were both erased, and it was 3-3 going to the top of the seventh, when Skaneateles went up for good thanks to Patrick Herr’s clutch two-run single.
James Musso, pitching in relief of Loy, made it stick, but only after Auburn loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh before Musso got back-to-back strikeouts to end it.
Musso, who also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with just a single run allowed, joined Cody Nesbitt and Cooper Purdy as they each drove in a run. Sander recorded a pair of hits.
After that defeat to Solvay, Westhill handled Mexico 12-0 on Friday, with Madigan throwing a five-inning no-hitter that included five strikeouts. Zawadzki again earned three hits and Daniul’s pair of doubles led to three RBI.
But then it turned again on Saturday as Westhill lost, 6-3, to Homer, while Skaneateles got past Onondaga 9-2 amid an impressive pitching debut.
Scott Scherrer, younger brothers of Tommy and Cregg Scherrer, only allowed one hit in seven innings while piling up 16 strikeouts. The Lakers helped him with four-run rallies in the third and sixth innings as Loy earned three hits and joined Nate Shattuck in getting two RBIs.
Marcellus, who split two games with Skaneateles early this season, won last Wednesday over Mexico 14-3, a game where both sides scored three times in the first inning before the Mustangs went up 5-3 in the second.
Adding a run in the fifth, Marcellus then plated eight runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away as Adam Sullivan doubled three times and drove in three runs. Ethan Snyder scored three runs as John Francesconi pitched and, in six innings, limited the Tigers to five hits.
