It had reached the point in the season where the West Genesee baseball team had a right to feel fatigued, having played six times in an eight-day span.
But through that stretch, the Wildcats went 5-1, capped by last Monday’s strong effort at home against Utica Proctor, where it got the runs early and turned to Evan Reichel to preserve a 4-1 victory over the Raiders.
Proctor briefly took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but WG countered with three runs in the bottom of the second off Mike Allesandro and tacked on a run in the fourth. Wes Randall, with two hits and two RBIs, led the charge as Nick DeJohn also had an RBI and scored twice.
Meanwhile, Evan Reichel got better as the day went on, limiting the Raiders to three hits in a complete-game effort that included eight strikeouts against just one walk allowed.
Perhaps that pitching toll caught up with the Wildcats in Wednesday’s game at Central Square, but WG still prevailed, turning to its bats to put together a tough 14-11 win over the Red Hawks.
In the first two innings, the Wildcats blazed out to a 6-0 lead. After Central Square cut it to 6-4 in the third, WG hit double digits with four runs in the top of the fourth and scored again in every inning the rest of the way, even as ace Adam Reichel struggled for the first time in week, requiring Seamus Barry to relieve him after 5 2/3 innings and close it out.
Steve Payette struck the big blow with a home run, part of a three-hit performance that included a team-best four RBIs. Colin Bevard doubled twice and drove in three runs, while Jon Brittain also had three RBIs through a pair of hits. DeJohn, Randall, Bailey Gauthier and Ryan Matthews each had one RBI.
Now the Wildcats looked forward to an appearance in Cicero-North Syracuse’s John Ilacqua Jr. Memorial Tournament, but bad weather forced it to be canceled.
Instead, WG would host C-NS in a non-league game on May 20, exactly a week after it takes on the other major Class AA favorite, Baldwinsville, with a non-league visit from CBA in between.
