Amid a flurry of activity in the last full week of April among area high school baseball teams, Marcellus stood out for producing a moment of sheer perfection.
More specifically, it was Mustangs pitcher Jared Sammon delivering a perfect game last Wednesday afternoon as his team routed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 17-0.
The game only lasted five innings due to the mercy rule, but Sammon retired all 15 batters he faced, nine of them with strikeouts, and required just 65 pitches overall.
Four different times, Marcellus notched three-plus runs in an inning, capped by a seven-run fourth as Sammon and Brayton Johnson each had three RBIs. Hugh White and Aidan Shea both got two hits as Brody Shanahan drove in a pair of runs.
Marcellus was 1-4 going into last Tuesday’s game with Homer, but prevailed 3-1 as White surrendered a first-inning run, but then blanked the Trojans from there, going 5 1/3 innings before Jack Flynn closed it out in relief.
The Mustangs got two runs off Homer pitcher Mike Strangeway in the bottom of the first and added an insurance run in the fourth. White finished with two hits and two RBIs as Johnson got the other RBI.
When the first state baseball rankings were released during the April school break, Solvay was positioned at no. 3 in Class B, a byproduct of its fast start and its recent history of success on the diamond.
And a big game took place last Tuesday as the Bearcats faced Skaneateles and promptly got a taste of difficult it is for any opponent, no matter how good, to try and hit Lakers pitching ace Cregg Scherrer.
In its 10-0 shutout of Solvay, the Lakers saw Scherrer surrender just one hit, to Robby Clark, and five walks, while recording 10 strikeouts in another complete-game gem.
Skaneateles got to Bearcats starter McKyle Sands for three runs in the third inning and four runs in the fifth, adding a three-run sixth as Jack Carlisle hit a home run and Jimmy Liberatore doubled twice.
Luke Viggiano and Tommy Reed had three hits apiece, Viggiano scoring three times to match Liberatore, with Jack Canty earning three RBIs and Emil Sander joining Carlisle in driving in two runs. Jack Whirtley added an RBI.
Before this, Skaneateles lost, 9-6, to Weedsport early in the week, and even after it beat Solvay it could not sustain that momentum, taking a 7-3 defeat to Westhill on Thursday afternoon.
A six-run second inning by the Warriors off James Musso made the difference, Nick Bistrovich getting a double and two RBIs in support of pitcher Nate King, who went 5 2/3 innings before Jack Knapp closed it out in relief.
Solvay lost, too, in a 3-2 decision to Bishop Grimes where it used RBIs from Blaine Franklin and Owen Lansing to erase an early 2-0 deficit, only to have the Cobras go back in front in the fifth and stay there as Joe Wike pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Matt Tarby. Antonio Gonzalez took the loss.
Jordan-Elbridge rolled past Phoenix 12-0 last Tuesday night as ace Zach Fabrize, who already has a no-hitter this season, limited the Firebirds to one hit and one walk, striking out six.
Carson Ashby had a memorable day, too, bashing a home run and going three-for-four while recording a career-best eight RBIs. Jordan Osborn drove in a pair of runs as Fabrize and Sean Dristle had one RBI apiece.
Before this, Westhill got shut out 8-0 by Christian Brothers Academy last Monday afternoon. The Warriors were held to two hits, each by Walker Blossey, as Brothers pitchers Mike Schaefer and Joey Marsallo combined for nine strikeouts.
Turning it around a day later, Westhill beat Cazenovia 5-1, getting single runs in each of the first five innings to support pitcher Philip Zollo, who struck out 10 and held the Lakers to just four hits. Nick Bistrovich had two hits and scored twice.
Bishop Ludden lost, 13-2, to Tully last Monday, giving up eight runs in the first inning. Pat McGarvey’s fourth-inning single drove in both of the Gaelic Knights’ runs. Then Ludden took a 7-0 defeat to Port Byron a day later.
But as J-E lost, 15-0, to CBA on Thursday, Ludden routed Onondaga 19-0, helped by an eight-run first inning and nine-run fourth inning. McGarvey, Pete Dunham and Zach Cadden had three RBIs apiece, with Tom Westers driving in two runs.
