That quick start the Skaneateles baseball team had enjoyed was quickly fading into memory by the time the calendar turned to May.
Even top Ryan Prochna was not immune to his team’s troubles, as discovered last Monday when Skaneateles went to Cazenovia and lost, 9-3, in the latest battle of Laker teams.
Prochna, so strong in his last outing (the 1-0 defeat to Westhill where the Warriors’ Alex Godzak threw a no-hitter), got hit hard in the first two innings as Cazenovia raced out to a 6-0 lead.
Though Prochna settled down and helped at the plate with two hits and two RBis, Skaneateles could not catch up. Austin Amory also drove in a run as, for Cazenovia, Ben Langey and Darian Smith led the way with two RBIs apiece.
A day later, when Skaneateles put up a challenge against undefeated, state Class B no. 5-ranked Homer, it was tied in the late going before a big rally pushed the Trojans past the Lakers 6-4.
Nick Hyland pitched, and was staked to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, only to surrender it when Homer scored three times in the bottom of the third.
Pushing back, Skaneateles reclaimed a 3-3 tie in the top of the fifth. However, the Trojans got to Hyland once more, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth that proved decisive.
Brandon Barron, in defeat, hit the game’s only home run, notched two other hits, scored twice and finished with two RBIs. Prochna and Connor Herr each drove in one run. Homer’s Jake Casey not only pitched a complete game, overcoming 10 hits with 11 strikeouts, he earned three RBIs at the plate.
At last, the Lakers’ skid ended Wednesday with a 15-4 romp over Jordan-Elbridge. A three-run first inning set the tone as Skaneateles got a run in every inning except the fourth, capped by scoring seven times in the top of the seventh.
Staying hot, Prochna had four of the Lakers’ 14 hits, while Barron notched three hits, including a double. Ryan Cunningham added two hits and also pitched a complete game, mostly shutting J-E down after it got a pair of first-inning tallies.
This led to Friday’s game against Marcellus, a team that had gone through massive turmoil with the mid-season resignation of head coach Pete Birmingham and his staff, but had beaten Skaneateles 3-2 on April 17, just before all that happened.
The sequel went the same way, a 2-1 Laker defeat where Herr’s strong pitching did not get rewarded.
Through three innings, Herr had blanked Marcellus, getting modest run support when Brandon Barron drove in Ryan Sherman in the bottom of the third.
Marcellus tied it in the fourth, though, and though it stayed 1-1 for a while, Prochna, in relief of Herr (who allowed just two hits in his six innings of work), gave up the decisive run in the top of the seventh.
Skaneateles now had to face state no. 5-ranked Homer on Tuesday before hosting Hannibal Thursday afternoon, each game an urgent one if the Lakers wanted to avoid dropping out of post-season consideration.
