Combined, the Westhill and Homer baseball teams sported a 22-0 mark when they got together for the first of two highly-anticipated regular-season showdowns on Thursday afternoon.
And the battle did not disappoint, the state Class B no. 1-ranked Warriors and no. 5-ranked Trojans matching each other until the pivotal sixth inning, when a heads-up defensive play sparked Westhill to a 2-0 victory.
Both sides sent their aces to the mound. Homer right-hander Peyton Boice met Westhill left-hander Alex Godzak, the latter in his first start since a no-hitter against Skaneateles on April 25.
Through three innings, it was 0-0, and Godzak had already recorded six strikeouts to Boice’s five. Homer’s Brent Quinlan spoiled any no-hitter plans with his one-out double in the top of the second, but Godzak used a couple of strikeouts to escape further trouble.
Boice was just as cool, though. Tyler Thomas, in the fourth inning, and Will Downs, in the fifth inning, both drew walks and found their way to second base. Each time, Boice induced inning-ending groundouts.
So it was 0-0 going to the sixth inning, just as it was eight days earlier at Skaneateles. And now, just like then, that inning would prove decisive.
In the top of the sixth, Homer’s Chase Davis drew a one-out walk on four pitches and promptly stole second base. When Kevin McNeil legged out an infield hit on a slow grounder to short, Homer had runners on first and third, and still only one out.
Enter Westhill’s freshman center fielder, Mike Burton, into the drama. Boice, with a chance to put the Trojans in front, hit a fly ball to Burton, playing at medium depth, and Burton made the catch, preparing to try and throw out Davis as he attempted to score on a possible sacrifice fly.
However, as the ball was in the air, Burton said that his teammate, right fielder Jeff Lobello, noticed that McNeil, instead of staying on first base, had drifted off the bag. Making a split-second decision, Burton threw to first, where Joe Meluni completed the double play and ended the inning before Davis could cross the plate.
Burton said that it wasn’t likely that he could gun down Davis from his spot in center, and credited Lobello’s alertness to create the unlikely 8-3 DP.
Fired up by this play, Westhill charged into the bottom of the sixth. J.C. Pena led off with a double, and again the Warriors had a runner in scoring position.
Only this time, it would work out. A wild pitch by Boice sent Pena to third, and after Thomas struck out, Ben Walsh watched as Boice again uncorked a wild throw, allowing Pena to race home with the game’s first run.
Walsh then reached on an error, and Jake Nigolian’s single, plus a grounder from Meluni, brought home the insurance run.
Godzak only needed one run, though. He finished off his complete-game, two-hit shutout of a Homer team that entered this day averaging nearly 10 runs per game with a 1-2-3 seventh and a strikeout of Taylor Withiam, his 11th K of the game.
“They (Homer) are one of the best teams we’ve faced all year,” said Godzak. “This win is a big lift for the whole team.”
And it’s just the first chapter. Westhill visits Homer next Thursday for the rematch, which could be another pitcher’s duel between Godzak and Boice.
No doubt, the game was an intense one – and it may have lingered too much, because 24 hours later the Warriors lost its first game of the season, falling to Cazenovia 5-1.
Despite entering the game a 4-7 record, the Lakers got a superb pitching performance from David McEntee, who went 6 1/3 innings, only allowing three hits.
For a long while, that didn’t look to matter, since Pena was blanking Cazenovia through five innings. But Westhill’s 1-0 lead vanished in the bottom of the sixth, when the Lakers erupted for five runs off Pena and Walsh, two of them coming home on Alex Szlamczynski’s double. Tanner Whiteman, relieving McEntee, recorded the final outs.
Not only does Westhill have the Homer rematch, it must also go Tuesday to Marcellus, who has shaken off its mid-season coaching change and won four in a row entering the contest.