SYRACUSE – Maybe it just had to be this way for the Liverpool baseball team.
Less than two hours after it found itself trailing Christian Brothers Academy by five runs less than an inning into Sunday’s Section III Class AA championship game at Onondaga Community College, the Warriors found itself celebrating an 11-5 victory and the program’s first sectional title since 2017.
This comeback reflected all that Liverpool has gone through this spring, from a rough 1-4 start to some late-season struggles that included a 20-5 defeat to this same CBA squad during a split doubleheader on May 6.
To a man, though, players and coaches pointed out that the comeback it made in the sectional quarterfinal at Auburn when, down 2-0 with two out in the top of the seventh, it rallied to win in extra innings made what happened in the title game easier to handle.
Even with Liverpool ace Jack Hoppe on the mound, CBA took full advantage of four Warriors errors and had its first six batters reach base, five of them scoring to put Liverpool in a quick 5-0 hole.
Still, said Hoppe, “we knew it was a long game and we had a lot of time (to come back). We just had to win each inning, and we did.”
Head coach Fred Terzini said he could sense in his players a lack of fear.
“They weren’t stunned or on their heels,” said Terzini. “They just weren’t spooked, especially after (what happened in) the Auburn game.”
More than anyone, Hoppe would allow the comeback to happen, settling down and, in his remaining 5 1/3 innings, shutting out the Brothers’ potent lineup and allowing just seven hits overall.
Meanwhile, the Warriors’ bats came to life in the top of the fourth against CBA ace Luke Boule, who didn’t allow a hit in the first three innings.
Nate Benjamin led off with a single, reached second on a passed ball and, after a walk to Tyler Vivacqua, scored on Hoppe’s single, after which Chris Baker doubled to the wall to make it 5-3.
Even bigger was what happened in the fifth when, with two outs, Benjamin singled and Alex Evans walked on four pitches. When a wild pitch moved them into scoring position, Vivacqua was intentionally walked to load the bases for Hoppe, who promptly singled home the tying runs.
It didn’t stay 5-5 for long. In the sixth against CBA reliever Tom Leskoske, Austin Burch led off with a walk and stole second. With one out, Chaz Anthony’s triple to the gap scored the go-ahead run and a throwing error allowed Anthony to score, too.
Even when Casey Vaughn relieved Leskoske, Benjamin greeted him with a triple, his third hit of the night, and scored his third run on a wild pitch, extending Liverpool’s lead to 8-5.
And the bottom of the order clinched things in the top of the seventh. Anthony, the no. 8 hitter, got another RBI single, and no. 9 hitter Gianni Toscano drove home two more with the Warriors’ ninth and final hit of the night.
Looking to match the state title it won in 2017, Liverpool will return to OCC this Saturday at 3 p.m. to meet Section II champion Shenendehowa in the Class AA regional final, the winner to advance to the June 9-10 state final four in Binghamton.
