A strong week for the Bishop Ludden baseball team would culminate Saturday at NBT Bank Stadium when it faced Bishop Grimes as part of the annual “Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease” Classic.
Edged by Solvay in a 12-11 thriller on April 22, Ludden rebounded last Monday to beat LaFayette 10-3, mostly on the strength of a seven-run second inning as it added three runs in the fourth to support pitcher Kevin Hawk, who struck out 11 in 5 2/3 innings.
Jason Hoffman and David House each had two RBis to pace the Gaelic Knights at the plate, with Hawk providing three hits and scoring twice. John Duffy added two hits as he, along with Hawk, earned one RBI apiece.
Then Ludden rolled to an 11-2 victory over Onondaga on Thursday afternoon, speeding to a 5-0 lead through two innings and then adding four runs in the fourth to chase Tigers starter Alex Crysler, who threw a no-hitter against Cato-Meridian earlier this season.
Tom Westers struck out 10 in his five innings of mound work, only allowing one hit. Hawk and Hoffman each had two hits, with Hawk, Duffy and Pat McGarvey gaining two RBIs apiece as House and Ed Walser also drove in runs.
This brief win streak ended Saturday against Bishop Grimes with a 9-1 loss. This dropped Ludden’s record to 3-4 as it would take on Tully, Fabius-Pompey and Weedsport this week.
Marcellus would prevail, 4-1, over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown last Monday afternoon, scoring twice in the second inning and answering the Rebels’ lone run in the fifth inning with one of its own before tacking on an extra run in the sixth.
Between them, Mustangs pitchers Jake Schettine (4 2/3 innings) and Ben McFall (2 1/3 innings) only allowed one hit, Schettine striking out seven to overcome seven walks and also getting two hits at the plate, Schettine, Matt Shoemaker and Aiden Shea earned one RBI apiece.
Before facing Westhill, though, the Mustangs endured an 8-4 defeat to Phoenix last Wednesday, a game where the Firebirds took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the second, adding a three-run sixth after Marcellus closed the gap to 5-3.
Ethan Molinari took the loss, sharing pitching duties with McFall as Schettine, Matt Spicer and John Houser each got two hits, Houser joining Matt Shoemaker and Brendan Shanahan in the RBI column. Nick Bernard led Phoenix with a double and three RBIs, also pitching six innings and striking out seven.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 3-1 defeat to Chittenango last Monday, briefly going in front on Dan Kuenhle’s RBI single in the third inning, only to give up that margin when the Bears scored three times in the bottom of the fourth.
Kuehnle, other than that fourth-inning blip, pitched quite well, going five innings before Carson Ashby worked a scoreless sixth innings of relief. J-E only got five hits off Chittenango starter Devon Spaulding.
Rebounding on Wednesday, J-E beat Cazenovia 7-3, getting all the runs it needed in a four-run first inning, but then scoring twice in the third and again in the sixth.
Three Eagles pitchers – Ashby, Jordan Osborn and Zach Fabrize– held Cazenovia to two hits, combining for seven strikeouts. Osborn and Geoff Lippa each had two hits on J-E’s side as Osborn and Dan Kuehnle scored two runs apiece. Fabrize added an RBI.
