Weather deteriorated again in Central New York, cutting back the schedule for local high school baseball teams.
But Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa did manage to play through the tough conditions last Tuesday afternoon, with the Red Rams leaning again on its strong pitching, plus some timely hits, to beat the Spartans 5-1.
Neither team scored until the bottom of the third, when J-D poked across a run against ESM starter Brandon Breen, doing so again in the fourth inning before a two-run fifth made it 4-0.
Overcoming 11 strikeouts from Breen, the Rams managed 11 hits, two each by Pat Cramer, Brady Wing and Jake Binder. Wing and Binder both would double and drive in runs, with Xander Ferlenda contributing a double of his own.
Meanwhile, Rams pitcher Matt Cappelletti was far from dominant, but he kept ESM off the board until Nick Castrello’s run-scoring hit in the sixth inning that plated Dan Williams. The Spartans managed seven hits, but only Williams had two hits, and Cappelletti struck out six.
A day earlier, J-D faced Homer, where it shook off a two-game skid and earned a 5-3 victory over the Trojans. Having lost to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Whitesboro the week before, J-D needed a good effort, and quickly grabbed a 4-0 lead before Homer got all of its runs in the top of the third off Rams ace Jake Binder.
That didn’t affect Binder too much, though, as he worked six innings and struck out 10, limiting Homer to three hits before Kyle Naugle worked a perfect seventh inning for the save. Jake Binder had two hits and two RBIs, with Casey Kretsch also driving in a run. Xander Ferlenda sparked the offense with a single, double, stolen base and three runs scored.
Back in action on Saturday, J-D wiped out Oneida 16-0, using four-run rallies in the first and fourth innings, plus a five-run seventh inning, to account for most of the offense as four pitchers – Binder, Naugle, Jimmy Sinopoli and Dylan McGee – combined on a one-hitter with 13 total strikeouts.
At the plate, Wing had three hits and scored three times. Binder smashed a home run and earned a team-best four RBIs, while Cappelletti, Ethan Palmer and Pat Cramer drove in two runs apiece.
While that was going on, CBA was defeating Chittenango 7-3, racing out to a 5-0 lead by the third inning and then counting on Aaron Simone’s pitching to keep the Bears off the board until a three-run rally in the sixth.
But CBA tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh, and Simone finished a complete game where he overcame eight hits and four walks by striking out seven. Tom Benz had a single, double and two RBIs, with Camillo Spinoso, Sam Little and Dom Spinoso driving in one run apiece.
Fayetteville-Manlius met Auburn last Monday at Falcon Park in their first encounter since last season’s Section III Class AA final at NBT Bank Stadium, and again the Hornets lost, though it required quite a comeback for the Maroons to pull out a 7-6 decision.
In the top of the fourth, F-M, down 3-0, three times to pull even, and added a three-run rally in the fifth to grab a 6-3 lead, chasing Auburn ace Justin Valentino. Josh Loeffler, with a single, double and three RBIs, led the charge as Mitch Hoalcraft and Zach Bernstein had one RBI apiece.
With starter Anthony Nucerino replaced in the fifth inning, four F-M relievers tried to close it out. But Auburn moved within 6-5 in the sixth inning and then, in the bottom of the seventh, put across the tying and winning runs on hits from Kevin DiCola and Stephen Bennett.
It was fitting that Bennett ended it, since he had pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief after Valentino. Casey Komanecky paced the Maroons’ attack with four hits.
F-M’s game with Syracuse on Tuesday was rained out, as was CBA’s game against Oswego and Bishop Grimes’ game against Altmar-Parish-Williamstown. Then the snow hit, negating J-D’s trip to Oswego and F-M’s Friday home date with Cicero-North Syracuse.
But the games at NBT Bank Stadium that were part of the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic did take place, starting on Friday with ESM falling to Marcellus 3-1.
Tom Ghika pitched for the Spartans, giving up single runs in the second, third and sixth innings. ESM got two hits apiece from Williams, Castrello and Jeff Loder, but only scored in the bottom of the third, when Loder drove home Williams, otherwise getting blanked by Mustangs Bryan Carroll.
A day later, in that same event, Bishop Grimes won, 6-2, over Bishop Ludden, erasing a 2-0 deficit with three-run rallies in the fifth and sixth innings.
Cobras pitcher Jack Rotondo held the Gaelic Knights to two hits in his complete-game effort. James Belton tripled and drove in three runs to lead the comeback as Chris Mancuso scored twice. Johnny Wike, Tyler Hartzog and Chris Mancuso added RBIs.
In a rare Sunday game, ESM improved to 4-6 and handled Chittenango 8-1, taking charge with four runs in the third inning and adding two runs in the fourth and sixth frames.
Not only did Breen pitch all seven innings and get 12 strikeouts while holding the Bears to three hits, he tripled and singled at the plate, joining Castrello and Loder with two RBIs apiece as Matt Hunter added an RBI.
