At last, the field was clear and it was time for the Skaneateles baseball team to open its season. And then the snow started again.
Only this time, the Lakers ignored the April chill and, by the time the snow stopped on Tuesday afternoon, it proudly owned a 4-0 victory over Bishop Grimes and had put a no-hitter in the books.
A season ago, Skaneateles reached the Section III Class B championship game, only to fall to Oneida. And while pitching ace Tommy Scherrer is gone, his brother, Cregg, is still around, and Cregg would dominate against Grimes.
Prior to this, the Lakers had only managed one on-field practice, so it may not have known what to expect. But it had no reason to worry, even as the snow continued through the game’s early stages.
Scherrer, a left-hander, overpowered Grimes’ batters, only surrendering three walks. Of the 18 outs he recorded, 15 of them were strikeouts, but he stayed on a pitch count and left before the seventh inning.
By then, the sun had broke through, and relief pitcher Tommy Reed, despite allowing a pair of walks, was able to complete the no-hitter.
Reed had already doubled and scored as the Lakers used single runs in the second and third innings off Cobras pitcher Jordan Newman to go in front. Two more runs followed in the fifth.
Luke Viggiano went three-for-three at the plate, notching three RBIs. Michael Murphy added two hits as he, along with Reed, Nate Wellington and Jimmy Liberatore, scored the Skaneateles runs.
