CENTRAL NEW YORK – Having gone eight innings when they first played May 6, the Westhill and Skaneateles baseball teams would gather again exactly one week later.
And again it proved wildly entertaining, the Warriors erasing a three-run deficit and then nearly squandering a four-run lead before hanging on to beat the Lakers 8-6.
Seeking payback, Skaneateles jumped on Ryan Campbell for three runs in the top of the first inning, two of them scoring on wild pitches, before Westhill answered with three runs in the bottom of the first.
Then a four-run second , spurred by rough Lakers fielding, appeared to put the Warriors in control. But Skaneateles settled down and got three solid innings of relief pitching from Cooper Purdy, who replaced Nate Shattuck.
So it was 8-4 going to the top of the seventh. Aidan Kerr, looking to lock down the saves, hit James Musso, igniting a rally where the Lakers got two men on base and, with two outs, brought them home on a throwing error.
Fired up, Skaneateles loaded the bases, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base, but Purdy, with a chance to extend the game, grounded out to end it.
Before all this, Westhill got a pitching gem from Tyler Campbell as it shut out Bishop Grimes 8-0 last Monday afternoon. Campbell struck out eight and only allowed three hits in six innings.
Westhill used two runs in the second and fifth innings, along with a three-run third, to pull in front, Brady Richadson earning three RBIs as Geoff Daniul Drove in two runs and Campbell helped his own cause with three hits.
Skaneateles, in the first of three games in as many days leading up to the Westhill rematch, was overpowered by Christian Brothers Academy in an 11-2 defeat.
Other than Emil Sander, who went three-for-four with a double and RBI, the rest of the Lakers had just one hit against four CBA pitchers who combined for 11 strikeouts.
Frustrated by the three-game skid, Skaneateles took it out Wednesday on a 10-1 Weedsport side, putting up 16 runs in the first two innings on the way to an easy 22-4 victory.
Musso and Mike Blowers both had three hits and scored seven runs between them. Scott Scherrer drove in four runs, with Trey Michel getting three RBIs as Purdy, Chad Lowe and Cal Anna and Cooper Purdy drove in two runs apiece.
As this went on, Westhill met the same Cazenovia team Skaneateles lost to May 7 and pounced on every single mistake those other Lakers made on the way, prevailing by a score of 11-1.
Cazenovia scored in the top of the first and loaded the bases with one out, but pitcher Mike Madigan escaped that jam and got a shutout the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the Warriors scored three times in the bottom of the first and broke out with seven runs in the second, Richardson had two RBIs, with Chester and Tyler Campbell getting two hits apiece as Aiden Kerr scored twice.
Westhill then beat Hannibal 14-4 on Thursday at Skaneateles, taking on Homer, got a much-needed 4-3 win over the Trojans.
A two-run fourth inning had the Lakers in front before Homer netted three runs in the top of the fifth. But the Lakers got back even in the bottom of the fifth and won it when, in the seventh, Shattuck tripled and Herr singled him home, rewarding Musso, who in a complete-game pitching effort struck out 10.
As it turned out, that win was even better because, on Saturday, Westhill met Homer and lost, 7-6, rallying from a 5-3 deficit to score three times in the top of the seventh for a 6-5 lead, but then seeing the Trojans score twice in the bottom of the seventh off Kerr, who had relieved Tyler Campbell in the fifth.
At the plate, Tyler Campbell’s home run and three RBIs were not enough, nor was Kerr going three-for-three and scoring twice. Zander Johnson went deep for the Trojans and had a pair of RBIs.
