Chittenango’s baseball team was denied a chance to measure its own progress when snow wiped out last Tuesday’s trip to Christian Brothers Academy.
The Bears waited for the weather to warm up — then struck twice at week’s end, while serving a special cause in the process.
First came the business part, as Chittenango unleashed lots of offense on Homer Friday afternoon, pulling away late to whip the Trojans 15-3 at DiChristina Field.
Through the first three innings, the Bears gained an 8-0 lead. It cooled off for a while, but in the bottom of the sixth Chittenango put things away by batting around in a seven-run eruption.
Andrew Lampman as he was one of five different players to earn two RBIs. Zach Boswell, Wes Burghardt, Nic Bacon and Ryan Kendrick joined Lampman in that group as Devin Christopher, Mike Moon and Greg Jasek also drove in runs.
Four pitchers saw action, with Kevin Streeter getting the win as Burghardt, Jeff Pierce and Steve Mesmer also took the mound.
A day later, Chittenango shed its black jerseys, all for a good cause.
The Bears visited Fayetteville-Manlius as part of the “Something for Shafer” fund-raiser in memory of F-M English teacher John Shafer, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in early February. The event featured baseball, softball and lacrosse games, plus booths and a nighttime dance for F-M and Chittenango students.
All the proceeds from the event went to benefit the Shafer Family Education Fund. Shafer’s two children, Forrest and Sierra, both attend Chittenango, and Forrest threw out the first pitch before the game as both teams wore purple “Something for Shafer” T-shirts.
As to the game itself, Chittenango came out on top, beating F-M 4-2. The Bears (8-4, 5-4 league) broke a 1-1 tie with the Hornets by notching single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings.
Brendan Galek took the win in relief of Moon. Pierce got the save. Boswell and Mesmer both earned RBIs as the Bears won despite getting just four hits all afternoon.
Across the campus, the Chittenango softball team met F-M and lost, 3-0, unable to get any hits off Hornets pitching ace Amy Bright, who earned 13 strikeouts. Kaleigh Koegel took the loss despite only giving up five hits.
A day earlier, the Bears fell to Homer 9-0, as a six-run fifth inning by the Trojans broke the game open. Gabby Luety hit a home run. Both Chittenango teams meet Fulton and East Syracuse-Minoa this week.
