Slowly resuming normal activity, the Fayetteville-Manlius baseball team overcame an early-week defeat to win four in a row.
In an eight-inning thriller at Utica Proctor last Monday night, the Hornets made a great rally to force it to extra frames, only to fall to the Raiders 5-4.
Cory Nelson was staked to a 2-1 lead, only to have Proctor score three times in the bottom of the fifth to go in front.
Not willing to surrender, F-M came up with two runs in the top of the seventh to extend the contest.
However, in the bottom of the eighth, the Raiders’ Jason Simone (who already had a triple and RBI) got to third base again, and when Nelson threw the ball away, Simone raced home with the winning run. Austin Straub led F-M with a pair of RBIs, as Jordan Kurtz also drove in a run.
A day later, F-M would start to return to the win column, taking out Corcoran 10-6.
All of the Hornets’ runs came in the first four innings, as it built an 8-1 lead before the Cougars made a late push.
Kyle Kearney got the win in relief, as Scott Miller and Will Porter also saw stints on the mound. Kurtz hit his team’s only home run and finished with three RBIs, as Ethan Braddock drove in two runs. Straub, Eddie Quinn and T.J. Wilson each had one RBI.
It was a bit closer in Wednesday’s game at Henninger, but the Hornets made it two wins in as many days, taking out the Black Knights 6-4.
F-M never went ahead for good until Quinn banged a clutch double in the top of the seventh inning that scored two runs and broke a 4-4 tie. Henninger, in fact, saw leads of 2-0 and 4-3 get away.
The game was urgent enough that Nelson saw a relief stint and got the win after Straub and Wilson pitched first. Brian Klocko hit a solo home run, as Straub, Billy Donlon and Buddy Leathley got credit for one RBI apiece.
Saturday brought a pair of challenges — and F-M met both of them, including a 9-5 victory over local rival Christian Brothers Academy.
Leading all the way, the Hornets built a 6-1 lead on the Brothers by the end of the third inning and kept scoring every time CBA would threaten.
Donlon ripped a home run and finished with three RBIs. Straub and Quinn drove in two runs apiece, while Wilson and Patrick Flake also drove in runs. Kearney earned the win in a long relief stint for Porter.
F-M’s other game was a bit more exciting, as it needed eight innings to rally for an 8-7 victory over Chittenango.
Trailing 4-0 early and 7-4 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, the Hornets fought back, tying it with two runs in the sixth and a run in the seventh before it won the game with another tally in the bottom of the eighth.
Nelson worked in relief to get the win, and he also chimed in at the plate with a home run, as he and Straub both finished with two RBIs. Quinn, Donlon and Ethan Braddock drove in single runs. Chittenango’s Corey Skurpski led both sides with three RBIs.
Monday’s game at West Genesee launches a busy final week of the regular season where Liverpool, Bishop Grimes and Auburn were all scheduled. F-M (7-2 league) began the week one game ahead of Central Square (6-3) in the race for the OHSL Colonial American division championship.
