Early-week sweeps of series against Salt City Athletic Conference Empire division foes made it a good week for the East Syracuse Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt baseball teams as they got set for a two-game battle with each other early this week.
Yet the Spartans’ biggest win may have come at week’s end, as on Saturday it took on Fulton and, in a clash of sectional title contenders, the Spartans edged the Red Raiders 5-4.
They traded runs in the early going and were tied, 2-2, when ESM appeared to get control in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring twice, only to see Fulton again answer with two runs in the top of the seventh.
But ESM put together a game-winning rally in the bottom of the seventh to reward pitcher Ryan Seburn, whose complete game included the Red Raiders getting nine hits and three walks, but never producing the big rally.
Of the Spartans’ 11 hits, two each came from Seburn, Nolan Penoyer, Josh Gilkey and Ryan Neuser as Penoyer drove in two runs, with Neuser and Justin Kingsley each earning one RBI.
ESM’s previous win streak got halted April 27 in a narrow 7-6 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse, unable to hold a 6-4 lead as the Northstars, who trailed 5-1 at one point, scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull it out.
Gilkey, Colin Williams and Ben Leib had two hits apiece, with Sam Jenkins joining Gilkey and Williams in the RBI column.
Turning it around last Monday, ESM defeated Syracuse City 7-2, with Seburn surrendering a pair of second-inning runs, but blanking Syracuse from there as he struck out seven to overcome five hits and three walks.
A five-run third inning got ESM in front, the Spartans tacking on two runs in the fourth as Gilkey went three-for-four, including a double, and got three RBIs. Jimmy Griffin singled and doubled as Seburn scored a pair of runs.
The rematch with Syracuse a day later saw ESM gain a 12-0 win, breaking it open with five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to support Ricky Neuser, who struck out eight and gave up just five hits in his complete-game shutout.
John Pontillo belted a home run as he produced four RBIs. Jenkins earned three hits, with Gilkey, Kingsley and Tanner Waldman earning two RBIs apiece. Seburn also drove in a run as Nolan Penoyer scored twice.
On Thursday, ESM kept it up with a 10-0 romp over Auburn, finishing it in five innings as it scored in every inning except the first to support Waldman, who held the Maroons to four hits in his complete-game shutout.
Penoyer was three-for-three at the plate, including a double, and earned two RBIs. Gilkey also doubled as he scored twice and drove in two runs, with Griffin and Jacob Buell also earning a pair of RBIs.
While ESM rolled, J-D took on Central Square, where in last Monday’s opener the Red Rams handled the Redhawks 12-3.
A four-run first inning was all the offense J-D needed, but it tacked on single runs in the second and fourth innings before getting two runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth on the way to 12 hits overall.
The second game at Central Square was nearly identical, but this time J-D prevailed by a 13-2 margin, invoking the mercy rule in five innings as it scored in each frame, peaking with a five-run rally in the top of the third.
Scottie O’Bryan’s home run highlighted a 15-hit attack as he finished with three hits and three RBIs. Nolan Giblin doubled and drove in three runs as Murphy Foss added a pair of RBIs. Zach Goodson scored three runs as Parker Wing, Mateo Santos, Mark Toscano and Nick Brotzki had one RBI apiece.
Bishop Grimes returned from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, only to face its fellow travelers from Westhill last Monday and take a 10-0 defeat to the Warriors.
Joe Wike got the Cobras’ lone hit against Westhill pitcher Andrew O’Connor, who struck out seven and surrendered just two walks. The Warriors got runs in each of the first five innings against Joe Ugyun, who took the loss as John Geer earned five RBIs.
But Grimes turned around Tuesday to beat Homer 7-5, taking the lead for good in the bottom of the third but needing three runs in the sixth to fend off the Trojans.
Jordan Newman pitched six innings to earn the win before David Cifonelli closed it out in relief. Zach Lapointe and Matt Vonden Steinen each drove in a pair of runs as Cifonelli scored three times, joining Wike and Skyler Gashi with single RBIs.
This came before a narrow 7-6 defeat, eight-inning to Solvay on Wednesday night where Grimes saw a 5-3 lead vanish late in regulation, only to get a run in the seventh to tie it 6-6 before the Bearcats’ got a run in the eighth.
Through it all, Newman doubled twice, tripled and got a pair of RBIs. Wike also drove in two runs as Gashi and Cifonelli had one RBI apiece, Vonden Steinen scoring twice.
Grimes did close the week strong, handling Bishop Ludden 7-1 on Saturday afternoon to move its overall record to 4-7.
