One rough inning cost the Baldwinsville baseball team again in last Tuesday’s trip to Fayetteville-Manlius, leading to a 12-4 loss to the Hornets. At first, it appeared that B’ville would get everything right against the CNY Counties League Natoinal division leaders, scoring early and posting a 3-1 lead to give to Bo Watson, arguably the best pitcher on the Bees’ staff.
But F-M turned it around in the bottom of the fourth, batting around and chasing Watson from the game with seven runs. As if that wasn’t enough, the Hornets roughed up reliever Nick Riley, too, scoring four times in the sixth. Watson and Danny Wright both had RBIs, but the Bees got just four hits off F-M sophomore left-hander Zack Tucker, who earned the win. Ben Whorall paced the Hornets’ attack with three hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Three days later, B’ville went to Oswego and closed the regular season with a much better effort, ripping the Buccaneers 13-3. A three-run first inning set the tone, and the Bees didn’t stop there, scoring in each of the first four innings as it built an 11-1 lead, giving ample support to pitcher Kyle Cushman, who got the win as Riley and Scott Redmond saw relief stints. Finishing with 11 hits, B’ville saw Dan Dubiel, Brett Earle and Mike St. John each drive in two runs. B’ville, as the no. 8 seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs, hosts no. 9 seed Corcoran in the first round, looking to advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal against top seed Liverpool. The semifinals are Saturday, with the title game June 2 at Alliance Bank Stadium.