Having ended up on the wrong end of too many decisions against its close neighbors to the south, the East Syracuse Minoa baseball team was all too glad to turn that around in the most exciting way possible.
In last Thursday’s season opener against Jamesville-DeWitt, the Spartans trailed by two runs going to the bottom of the seventh inning, but erased that deficit and, with one big swing from James DePaul,with a 7-6 victory over the Red Rams.
Both ESM and J-D had seen multiple games postponed by the bad weather that, in early April, sidelined all five area high school baseball teams. But while others had to wait for field conditions to improve, the Spartans and Red Rams were ready to go.
Shane Krawec started for ESM and tossed three shutout innings. But he left only holding a 1-0 lead, and J-D pounced upon his departure, scoring a run in the fourth and, after the Spartans got two runs in that frame, getting four runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.
They traded runs in the sixth before the Spartans, still down 6-4, made its biggest move in the bottom of the seventh. It loaded the bases with one out, bringing DePaul to the plate, and he promptly tagged J-D reliever Josh Kowalczyk (who had replaced Will Havens) for a triple that cleared the bases and brought home the winning runs.
Aside from DePaul’s heroics, Sam Jenkins doubled and drove in a run as Nick Castrello and Jeff Loder earned one RBI apiece. Ryan Seburn pitched a scoreless seventh inning after replacing Tom Ghika.
The Rams saw Casey Kretsch doubled and drove in two runs as Dylan McGee added a pair of RBIs. Matt Cappelletti added a double and RBI as Ian Crawford also drove in a run. Andrew LeClair had a pair of hits and scored two runs.
Looking for back-to-back wins, ESM faced Cortland on Friday afternoon and held off the Purple Tigers 5-3, though this also required a comeback. Trailing 2-1, the Spartans broke out for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to move in front for good.
Castrello and Jimmy Griffin each had three-inning stints on the mound before Danny Williams worked the seventh inning for the save. At the plate, Castrello banged out three of ESM’s nine hits as he, along with Griffin and Tyler Harrig, drove in runs and Zach Grevelding added a pair of hits.
Then the Spartans had a non-league game against Marcellus on Saturday and, again, came up big in the clutch, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to break out of a tie and eventually defeat the Mustangs 5-1.
DePaul drove in two of those runs, with Castrello adding an RBI. All of this benefited pitcher Ryan Seburn, who gave up a first-inning Marcellus run but then blanked the Mustangs the rest of the way, recording six strikeouts and allowing just four hits.
J-D also had back-to-back games where it had a chance to recover from the ESM loss. Facing Phoenix on Friday, the Red Rams did prevail, 8-4, over the Firebirds, though it took a six-run sixth inning to pull out of a 2-2 tie after the Rams had squandered an early lead.
Mostly, J-D benefited from a Phoenix defense that committed 11 errors, though Cappelletti did manage three RBIs. Gavin French and Casey Kretsch earned one RBI apiece as Parker Wing scored twice. Dylan McGee pitched most of the way, allowing seven hits in 6 2/3 innings and striking out three before Kretsch earned the last out.
The Red Rams met Whitesboro on Saturday afternoon and met with far less success, falling to the Warriors 15-5. J-D surrendered runs in each of the first five innings as Whitesboro used a seven-run rally in the fifth to pull away.
Cappelletti, in defeat, hit a home run, with French, Kretsch, Luke Smith and Mark Toscano also driving in runs. Four J-D pitchers gave up 12 walks and nine hits between them as Matt Parkinson and Kevin Brennan both went deep for Whitesboro, combining for six RBIs.
