ONONDAGA COUNTY – If anyone needed a prime example of the fickle nature of baseball, Cicero-North Syracuse offered it.
Undefeated in its first six games this spring, the Northstars visited 0-2 Fayetteville-Manlius last Monday – and promptly got beat, its comeback falling just short in a 5-4 loss to the Hornets.
F-M struck for a pair of first-inning runs off C-NS starter Sam Shaw and added two runs in the fourth after the Northstars cut the deficit to 4-1.
As it turned out, the Hornets’ ifth-inning tally that made it 5-1 was needed, for C-NS would score once in the sixth and twice in the top of the seventh before Sam Kuss, in relief of Max Danaher, was able to record the final out.
Corey Cartier managed a home run and two RBIs as Logan Karwowski and Anthony Testa also drove in runs. Battista Wood and Casey Gunnip pitched well in relief of Shaw as, For F-M, Robert Mason tripled, singled twice and drove in two runs, with Seth Albert adding three hits and an RBI.
Ironically, Liverpool was F-M’s next opponent, but the Warriors would have a far different outcome, scoring four times in the first inning and pulling further away from there to beat the Hornets 11-1, Noah Klasen pitching six innings and giving up just four hits along the way.
Taking advantage of four F-M errors, the Warriors saw Andrew Contos and Jack Hoppe each pick up a pair of hits. Nathan Benjamin, Alex Evans and Gianni Toscano each scored twice as Benjamin joined Tyler Vivacqua and James Tearney in the RBI column.
Yet when F-M met C-NS again Wednesday in the “Strike Out ALS” event at NBT Bank Stadium, the Hornets again got the best of it, rolling past the Northstars 11-2.
Bryce Zicaro, who tossed a two-hit shutout at Baldwinsville in his last start on April 22, was tagged for four runs in the first inning. Zicaro settled down until the fifth, when he was knocked out by a Hornets lineup that got him and three relievers for seven total runs.
C-NS only got on the board in the fourth as Karowwski and Grayson Giddings drove in the runs, but managed just four total hits against F-M pitchers Sam Kuss and Dan Swift.
Liverpool took a shot at undefeated West Genesee Thursday night at NBT Bank Stadium, but was unable to overcome some early outbursts from the Wildcats in an 8-5 defeat.
WG struck for four runs in the first inning and four more in the third after Liverpool briefly cut the deficit to 4-2. A run in the fourth and two runs in the seventh was half what the Warriors needed to rally, though Benjamin had three hits and scored twice as Vivacaqua and Lance Phillips got two hits apiece.
On Friday, C-NS handled Rome Free Academy 12-3, with a five-run first inning all that the Northstars would need, though it added multiple runs in the third, fourth and sixth for insurance.
Karwowski provided the power, twice going deep for home runs on his way to four RBIs. Sean Lawler also had a home run as he and Giddings both got two RBIs. Gunnip pitched five innings to earn the win.
