Going into last week’s action with a 6-2 record, the Baldwinsville baseball team would see things get rough, and the Bees would have to show how it could respond to adversity.
During last Monday night’s game with Liverpool, in the finale of the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’ Disease Classic, the Bees saw the Warriors rebound from an 11-inning defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse on April 25 by prevailing 6-3.
Going up against B’ville’s ace, Cody Kaestle, the Warriors got a run in the second inning, and trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third, it got to Kaestle for three runs to move in front for good.
When the Bees cut the lead to 4-3, Liverpool again had an answer, notching two runs in the bottom of the fifth off B’ville reliever Frank Mayosky. Jake Pieklik led the Warriors with three hits, two of them doubles, plus an RBI.
Against Liverpool pitchers Jeff DeStefano and Dan Peck, B’ville drew a lot of walks, but only earned two hits, one each from Billy Clifford and Pat Dubiel. Sam Mahar scored a pair of runs, with Dan Engels plating the other run.
At least that game was a close one – unlike Wednesday’s visit to West Genesee, who again asserted its status as a Class AA sectional favorite by shutting out the Bees 11-0.
Again, B’ville’s bats went quiet. WG’s Will Randall, with relief help from Davis and Vince Mills, held B’ville to four hits, two of them by Niko Mirizio, while the trio of Randall, Davis and Mills combining to record 11 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, WG’s bats pecked away at Bees pitchers Clifford, Ben Webb and Keenan Nellis, getting a run in the second inning before three consecutive three-run rallies in the third, fourth and fifth innings broke the game open. Evan Reichel doubled, singled and earned three RBIs. Kyle Korzeniewski got two hits and drove in two runs, with BeVard adding a double and two RBIs.
Now it was urgent for the Bees to break out of this slump in Friday’s visit to Fayetteville-Manlius, a team it lost to, 5-3, two weeks earlier, and things looked bleak when the Hornets took an early 2-0 lead and starting pitcher Nick Borek had to leave the game due to injury.
But reliever Frank Mayosky was brilliant, tossing six scoreless innings of relief and only allowing five hits, allowing B’ville plenty of time to rally and rout the Hornets 13-2.
Finally breaking out, the Bees’ bats produced 17 hits, three each by Dubiel, David Marsell and Andy Chajkowski. Charlie McAllister finished with three RBIs as Chajkowski, Marsell and Engels earned two RBIs apiece, with Clifford, Mahar and Carson Hayes each driving in single runs.
