Not only did the West Genesee baseball team enter first place in the CNY Counties League American division, it has made itself one of the clear favorites for the Section III Class AA title, to be decided in less than a month’s time.
Yet it hasn’t remained a smooth process. In another key contest, the Wildcats went east, to Murnane Field, Thursday night to face Utica Proctor, a team it lost to April 12 when ace Steve Sarcone shut WG down.
Again, Sarcone pitched — and again, the Wildcats lost, this one a 5-3 decision, and this despite a great start on WG’s part.
In the top of the first inning, the Wildcats tagged Sarcone for two runs. After Proctor tied it 2-2 in the second, WG got a run in the third to move back in front. Tyler Carr, Turner Parry and Erik Krohl scored the Wildcats’ runs.
That would be all, though, as Sarcone blanked WG in the last four innings, holding them to four hits overall and picking up 11 strikeouts. He also belted a home run as the Raiders got three runs off Eric Spencer in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead for good.
Two days earlier, the Wildcats unleashed lots of offense in a 15-6 victory over Rome Free Academy, getting at least one run in each inning.
That included a four-run first inning and five-run outburst in the bottom of the second, and it was 11-0 before the Black Knights got a run off Parry, who picked up the win as Nick Dellefave worked in relief.
In all, WG picked up 19 hits, including Carr’s pair of triples as he scored four runs. Brian Burns doubled and drove in three runs, while Krohl, Spencer and Justin Capella each had two RBIs. Dellefave, Carr, Josh Phillips and Nick Woytan also drove in runs. Greg Wadach had three hits and scored three times as Carr, Spencer and Burns also had three-hit outings.
