Doing whatever is required to win, whether it’s lights-out pitching or big bats, the West Genesee baseball team has become a growing Section III Class AA title threat.
Capping off a perfect week, the Wildcats won a memorable Saturday duel with defending Class AA champion Liverpool, knocking off the Warriors 1-0 in eight innings.
Two great pitchers on the mound, as WG senior Casey McIntosh opposed Liverpool’s junior ace, Aaron Schudlt.
For seven long innings, neither McIntosh nor Schuldt blinked, and it remained 0-0. Pitching for the second time this week, McIntosh had all his good stuff present, finishing with 11 strikeouts and a three-hitter.
Schuldt was just as good, though, earning 10 strikeouts as he, like McIntosh, gave up just three hits. Yet all that work would mean nothing by the time the eighth inning was over.
In the bottom of that frame, Casey Reale reached base, eventually getting to second. Brent Hagen didn’t hesitate, lashing a single that allowed Reale to score the game’s lone — and winning — run.
So concluded an awesome week of play by the Wildcats, who used this to build its record to 9-2, 6-1 in OHSL Colonial National play, with a Tuesday showdown against first-place Cicero-North Syracuse looming.
Previously, McIntosh had excelled last Monday afternoon, and the senior came through at home as the Wildcats beat the Oswego Buccaneers 4-1.
Going the whole way, McIntosh allowed six hits, one walk and a second-inning run while accumulating 12 strikeouts.
WG was down, 1-0, when it got three runs off Jeremy Cahill in the bottom of the third to go in front. Ray Sova, Casey Reale, Kevin Petrick and Brent Hagen each drove in runs, propelling the Wildcats to victory.
Going to Fowler a day later, the Wildcats needed to make a furious late-game rally to get past the Falcons, 6-5.
Fowler chased Ray Sova from the mound in the third inning and went up, 4-1. WG started to come back with a run in the fifth inning, then got to Falcon pitchers Matt Hill and John Ramos with four runs in the top of the sixth to go in front.
John Schlegel’s home run was a key blow, as he finished with three RBIs. Hagen drove in two runs, as James Grecco did a terrific job in a long relief stint (just one run allowed) to pick up the victory.
In a rematch with Oswego on Wednesday afternoon, the Wildcats switched paths and relied on its offense to rally past the Bucs in a 20-8 decision.
Oswego forced this issue with seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to grab an 8-2 lead, as Dan Connor was pulled in favor of Mark Scholz.
WG began its rally with three runs in the third inning. Then, in the top of the fourth, it erupted for eight runs to go in front for good, all part of a trend where it compiled 18 unanswered runs to subdue the Bucs.
Jeremy Connors hit his team’s lone home run, finishing with four RBIs. Hagen drove in three runs as Reale, Schlegel, Garrett Smith, Joe Kesler and Conor Thompson had two RBIs apiece.
Back home Thursday to face Nottingham, the Wildcats’ streak continued, in a big way, as it bashed the Bulldogs 14-1.
Four first-inning runs set the tone, and WG really put it away with nine total runs in the fifth and sixth innings, all support for Schoeneck, who pitched a complete-game two-hitter.
Hagen drove in three runs, with Schlegel and Conor Thompson earning two RBIs apiece. Grecco, Kesler, Sova, Petrick and McIntosh all drove in runs, too.
All this, plus Monday’s game with Corcoran, set up the Wildcats (9-2) for Tuesday’s big showdown against CNS. WG also plays at Utica Proctor on Thursday night.
