CENTRAL NEW YORK – If all goes as planned, the Skaneateles and Westhill baseball teams might find themselves battling against one another late in May for top Section III Class B honors.
A large step toward that goal would come when the Lakers and Warriors went head-to-head in the first of two consecutive Friday-afternoon clashes, and it proved instantly memorable, stretching into eight innings before Westhill pulled it out 9-7.
It went back and forth all afternoon, Skaneateles getting leads of 1-0 and 4-2 but unable to hold on to either of them, Westhill battling back to take a 5-4 lead by the sixth inning.
James Musso pitched into the seventh and amassed 12 strikeouts, yet left trailing by one as, in the bottom of the seventh, Aidan Kerr, who had hit a two-run home run earlier, tried to close it out.
With two out, though, Nate Shattuck drew a walk. Then, with a full count and one pitch away from victory, Kerr watched the Lakers’ Patrick Herr double home Shattuck with the tying run.
When Musso exited in the eighth, though, Westhill pounced, tagging three Lakers pitchers for four runs, two scoring on bases-loaded walks and two others on wild pitches.
Still, it wasn’t over. With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Skaneateles, down 9-5, saw Emil Sander hit his second home run of the game, and two more hits, plus a wild pitch, scored another run. The tying run was at the plate – but Kerr struck out Mike Blowers to end it.
Westhill needed the boost after confronting reigning sectional Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy last Tuesday and getting shut out , 10-0, by the Brothers.
Three pitchers – Tyler Campbell, Mike Madigan and Ryan Campbell – surrendered 10 hits between them, including a home run by Jack Landau, who along with Ethan Harris and Zach Mulhern drove in two runs apiece/
As that went on, Skaneateles was at nearby Bishop Grimes and having to battle all the way to the end to get a 3-1 victory over the Cobras.
Up 1-0, the Lakers gave up a run in the fourth that tied it. Then, in the top of the seventh, the Lakers got to Markwood for two decisive runs, the key blow Blowers’ double. After six innings where Cooper Purdy struck out 11, Musso worked the seventh inning to get the save.
Skaneateles followed it up Thursday with a 12-0 shutout of Jordan-Elbridge where Scott Scherrer only allowed one hit and scored three runs with an RBI. Purdy, Cal Anna and Carter Corbett had two RBIs apiece as Musso went two-for-two and scored twice.
However, the defeat to Westhill had a lingering effect because, on Saturday, Skaneateles lost, 4-0, to Cazenovia, getting six hits but unable to score a run against pitcher Jack Byrnes, who recorded seven strikeouts.
Anna pitched four innings beofre Corbett took over in relief. Cazenovia netted a run in the first inning, two runs in the second and a run in the fifth as Jack Donlin got two hits and an RBI.
Far from all this, Solvay had an impressive performance last Tuesday against Phoenix, beating the Firebirds 13-3 as a seven-run third inning broke the game open.
Justin Palmisano’s single and double led to three RBIs. Anthony Berry, Sam Gonzalez and Max Overend drove in two runs apiece as Gonzalez scored three runs and Ty Martineau pitched four solid innings to earn the win.
Marcellus also won last Tuesday, taming Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 6-2 as Michael Flynn pitched a complete game, striking out seven and limiting the Rebels to three hits.
Hunter Byrne got two hits at the plate to pace the Mustangs as he, along with Ryder Donahue, Liam Goldsworthy and Michael Flynn, drove in runs.
On Thursday, the Mustangs fell 13-1 to Homer, Adam Sullivan scoring his team’s lone run to create a 1-0 first-inning lead before the Trojans tied it the second and then unloaded for 12 runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
