For several weeks, the Liverpool baseball team never had to worry about what to do following a defeat.
That suddenly changed last Monday at Falcon Park, where the Warriors’ eight-game win streak halted at the hands of Auburn in an 8-3 defeat.
The Maroons got what it needed early, knocking starting pitcher Pat Brown from the game with four runs in the first inning and three runs in the bottom of the second.
Down 7-0, the Warriors would try to come back as Joe Riley pitched a long and effective relief stint. It pulled within 7-3 as Shawn Peake, Tom Everson and James Wright drove in runs, but it got no closer.
Auburn pitcher Steve Komanecky proved to be quite good, as the left-hander held Liverpool to five hits. Meanwhile, the Maroons got 14 hits, three of them from Kris Catino as he, along with Komanecky and Matt Wild, led Auburn with two RBIs apiece.
The Warriors would recover with back-to-back wins, starting on a non-league basis with last Wednesday’s 4-3 conquest of New Hartford.
In support of his own pitching effort, Matt O’Kipney had a two-run single as Liverpool got all four of its runs in the bottom of the first inning. Pat Rowe also drove in a run.
New Hartford fought back, scoring in the third, sixth and seventh innings to pull within one before Cory Folk, in relief of O’Kipney, got the last out for the save.
Liverpool’s offense unleashed itself again in Thursday’s game against Baldwinsville, coming up with 18 hits and runs in each of the first five innings in a 16-3 romp over the Bees.
This included a five-run second inning and six-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth, with Mike Weakley getting three hits and four RBI before it was done.
Andrew Schreyack doubled and drove in three runs, while Riley and Mike Parsons each had two RBIs. Rowe, Peake, Julio Martinez and Corbin Gapski also earned RBIs as Vince Valentino (who beat West Genesee in his last outing on May 5) pitched most of the way.
That brief win streak halted on Saturday, though as the Warriors took an 8-1 home loss to Rome Free Academy.
RFA used a pair of first-inning runs to go in front, but did its real damage in the top of the sixth, when it tagged Parsons, Folk and Schreyack for six runs.
Meanwhile, Liverpool (15-4) got just a first-inning run and seven hits off Black Knights pitcher Matt Webster, who threw a complete game.
This meant that the Warriors’ Monday battle with Utica Proctor would likely decide the CNY Counties League National division title, all before a Tuesday makeup of the rained-out May 2 game with Cicero-North Syracuse.