Even though attention was already drawing toward the West Genesee baseball team’s showdown with Cicero-North Syracuse on Monday at the Gillette Road complex, the Wildcats found the road to that clash turn quite rough, with back-to-back defeats after it had just one loss in the first 15 games of the spring.
When the 14-1, state Class AA no.7-ranked Wildcats returned to action last Wednesday afternoon to face the combined Syracuse city squad, it got off to its worst start in any game this season, and could not recover from it, taking just its second loss of the season in a 9-5 decision.
These same teams had met April 25 at NBT Bank Stadium in the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic, with WG rallying from a 3-2 deficit and scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to prevail, 7-3, after Syracuse’s left-handed ace, Jeff Belge, had left the mound.
Belge didn’t pitch here, but Syracuse managed, with some assistance from the hosts. Poor defense, in the form of four errors, would doom WG’s efforts, and help Syracuse score three runs in the first inning and four runs in the third to chase starter Evan Reichel and grab a 7-1 edge.
Eventually, the deficit grew to 9-1 before the Wildcats staged its lone rally, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth as Colin BeVard’s triple led to three RBIs. Brian VanBeveren also drove in a run.
Yet the deficit proved too much to overcome, Syracuse getting a solid pitching effort from Ben Atkinson, who not only earned the victory, but also had a triple and two RBIs at the plate. Belge doubled and drove in two runs.
Without any time to fret about it, WG was back in action Thursday afternoon, visiting Baldwinsville, but the struggles of the previous day lingered and the Wildcats lost again, falling to the Bees 7-5.
Now it was Ryan Greco’s turn on the mound, but he never made it out of the third inning, B’ville striking for all of its runs in those frames, the key blow a two-run second inning after the Wildcats had gone in front, 3-2, in the top of the second.
Once Greco exited, Vince Mills and Will Randall did a superb job, throwing 3 2/3 innings of shutout relief, but the Wildcats, trailing 7-3, could only manage single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and were unable to catch up.
Randall had three of WG’s seven hits against Bees pitcher Tom Scarfino. Anthony Carrodeagus was credited with an RBI as Pat Dubiel got two hits for B’ville, joining David Marsell, Billy Clifford and Dan Engels by driving in runs.
