The Fayetteville-Manlius baseball team stayed at home during the April school break and nearly won all three of its games.
The Hornets got to 2-0 last Tuesday, when it went to DeLutis Field and made a big late surge to beat Rome Free Academy 5-2.
Neither side scored until the Black Knights got a run in the bottom of the fourth. F-M tied it, and then took a 2-1 lead before RFA got a run in the sixth, pulling even again at 2-2.
Finally, the Hornets put together a sustained rally, the three runs it scored in the top of the seventh making the difference. Dave Nuzzo and Mike Monashefsky each managed a pair of RBIs as Joe Salamone, Mike Perry, Tom Flynn, Mike Hoalcraft and Seth Pedersen scored the runs.
On the mound, Jack McClure went the route, giving up seven hits and two walks while striking out five, constantly escaping trouble thanks to solid defense around him.
Then the Hornets made it three in a row on Thursday, handling Auburn 10-2 as Zach Tucker made his first pitching appearance since the no-hitter he threw against Utica Proctor in the April 5 opener.
Here, the Maroons prevented a repeat of Tucker’s gem, scoring twice in the top of the first. From there, though, the Le Moyne-bound senior lefthander settled down, overcoming three hits and five walks to go six innings for the win.
F-M tied it, 2-2, in the bottom of the first, moved ahead with two more runs in the second inning and kept adding to the margin, capping it with a four-run fifth. Hoalcraft had three hits, including a triple, and four RBIs. Perry, Nuzzo, Pedersen and Scott Bellina each drove in one run as Flynn, Monashefsky and J.P. Quinn scored two runs apiece.
On Saturday, F-M took its first loss of the season, 13-12, to Clarence, from the Section VI ranks, but the Hornets nearly pulled this one out, too.
It was a wild affair where the Red Devils (who beat West Genesee the day before) scored six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to go ahead 13-2, only to see the Hornets nearly make it all the way back. Still trailing 13-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, F-M scored nine times in that frame, almost catching up before Clarence could record the final out and escape.
Perry, with four hits, and RBI and three runs scored, and Monashefsky, with three hits and two RBIs, led the rally as Hoalcraft added three RBIs. McClure, Quinn, Salamone, Nate Olson and Peter Albanese also drove in runs.
F-M would meet the newly-formed Syracuse East team (who just beat Bishop Ludden) on Monday before a key clash Thursday against Cicero-North Syracuse.
