Depending on the timing of Easter and the adjacent school break, the Liverpool baseball team has, in years past, managed to take the field before making its annual pilgrimage to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for a week of games and fine-tuning.
In 2015, though, the Warriors, who lost to eventual champion Auburn in last year’s Section III Class AA semifinal, never got on the field before Myrtle Beach due the slow-melting snow that was still on the ground as the calendar turned to April..
Thus, the games in Myrtle were the first action the Warriors had seen, and the results were mixed, starting with last Monday’s doubleheader, which it split.
Liverpool beat St. Andrew’s 14-4 in the five-inning opener, scoring twice in the first inning and then breaking it open with eight runs in the bottom of the second in support of pitcher Bobby Zywicki, who went four innings before Dan Peck worked an inning of relief.
At the plate, the Warriors had 10 hits, two each from Rick Sisto, Jonah Harder and Jeremy Sgroi, who also managed two RBis apiece as Sgroi scored three times. Mike Wright also scored three runs as Rocco Leone crossed the plate twice. Sisto and Wright each doubled.
Later that night, Liverpool lost, 3-2, to Lake Catholic (Ohio), scoring both of its runs in the first inning as Kyle Terzini drove home Dan Wilkinson and then scored on Kyle Watson’s single.
Staked to that 2-0 lead, Ryan Stott didn’t get any further help, but Lake Catholic pulled even with single runs in the fifth and sixth inning, and then won it in the bottom of the seventh with a run off Peck.
Another close game followed on Tuesday, but Liverpool won it, taking eight innings to beat Fordham Prep (New York City) 8-7.
Up 5-1 through two innings, the Warriors saw Fordham Prep go up 7-5 by the top of the fourth, but used single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to tie it, 7-7, before winning it in the bottom of the eighth.
Sisto led with three of Liverpool’s 10 hits and two RBIs. Terzini also drove in two runs as Wright had a double, triple, two runs scored and an RBI, and Jake Pieklik also had an RBI.
Terzini scored three runs as Wright and Harder each scored twice. Tom Karins pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory after Jeff Destefano and Andrew Dominic split mound duties in the first six frames.
And Liverpool won again on Thursday, handling St. Peter’s 5-1 with two-run rallies in the second and fifth innings, plus a run in the fourth, to support a complete-game effort from Tom Bianchi, who struck out seven and held St. Peter’s to five hits.
Sisto’s contributions included a solo home run, with DiStefano adding a double and two RBIs. Zywicki also drove in a run as Sgroi contributed a double.
Far from all this, Cicero-North Syracuse opened its season with a trip to Baltimore, Maryland last Wednesday to face Calvert Hall, where it lost a 4-2 decision.
Three of Calvert Hall’s runs came in the third inning off Northstars ace Steven Theetge. The Northstars responded in the top of the third as Jake McArdell got one of his two doubles and scored on Mike Copani’s single, A.J. Nesci also scoring a run.
But Calvert Hall countered with a run in the fourth, and neither team got on the board again, though Theetge and reliever Brad Hamilton tossed a shutout the rest of the way.
Back home at the Gillette Road complex on Saturday, C-NS rolled past East Syracuse Minoa 13-2 for its first win of the season, scoring four times in the first inning to seize control and adding a four-run fourth inning and three-run sixth inning to get away from the Spartans.
James Salamone’s pair of hits led to a team-best four RBIs. McArdell and Christian LaLomia both managed three hits and two RBIs, while Copani had two hits and drove in a pair of runs. Between them, the pitching trio of Sam Spadafore, Brad Hamilton and Luke Dziados held ESM to four hits and combined for 10 strikeouts.
