If a season-opening defeat to West Genesee on March 31 bothered the Bishop Ludden baseball team too much, it didn’t show in the team’s OHSL Liberty division opener.
There, the Gaelic Knights, defending Section III Class B champions, got out of a series of jams and relied on the clutch hitting of Michael Kogut to beat Marcellus 6-2.
Throughout the game, the Mustangs threatened to get in front, but pitchers Terry McFadden and John Rooney pulled them out, stranding 12 Marcellus runners on base in the first six innings.
The fifth inning proved pivotal. Ludden led, 4-1, when Marcellus got a run on Ben Quick’s double (his second RBI of the game) and loaded the bases with one out. Dan Heil then hit a liner — right at first base, which turned into an inning-ended double play.
Meanwhile, Kogut lit up the Mustangs, going three-for-three and driving in four of Ludden’s runs. His two-out, two-run single in the first inning put the Knights up for good. McFadden added two RBIs.
Not that the Mustangs are complaining too much. On Wednesday morning, it will fly out of Syracuse and go to Orlando, Fla., for a week of games at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex, a trip mostly paid for by local businesses who sponsored them.
