Perhaps it took a couple of weeks, but the Marcellus baseball team is showing that it can move past the sudden mid-season departure of its entire coaching staff and put the focus back on the field – where the product is proving successful again.
In a four-day span, the Mustangs won four times, starting on Wednesday with a 7-2 victory over Cazenovia and continuing Thursday with a 6-2 conquest of Jordan-Elbridge.
Then came two high-profile weekend contests – and again, Marcellus came through.
On Friday, the Mustangs visited long-time rival Skaneateles, whom it beat at home 3-2 on April 17, just three days before head coach Pete Birmingham stepped down.
Behind early in the rematch, Marcellus fought back – and with Mike Welsh doing fine work on the mound, the Mustangs pulled out a 2-1 win to complete a regular-season sweep of the Lakers.
It was 0-0 until the bottom of the third inning, when Brandon Barron drove home Ryan Sherman to put Skaneateles in front.
From there, though, Welsh shut the door. The Lakers managed five hits, and Marcellus made a pair of errors. Each time, though, Welsh escaped the trouble, giving the Mustangs time to rally.
Marcellus used a run in the top of the fourth to pull even, 1-1, the lone run it would get off Laker starter Connor Herr. And it stayed that way until the seventh, when the Mustangs pushed across a run against reliever Ryan Prochna, and Welsh made that slim lead hold up in the bottom of that frame.
Not only did he throw a complete game, Welsh also scored one of the runs and earned a hit, as did Phil Zdanowski and Taylor Vile. Jake Welsh and Colin Smith each drew a pair of walks.
With its confidence growing, Marcellus made the trek to Alliance Bank Stadium to face Syracuse West in the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic, a benefit for ALS research and treatment at SUNY-Upstate Medical University.
Once more, the Mustangs were tied going into the seventh inning – and once more, it broke out, getting three late runs to beat Syracuse West 7-4.
A pair of first-inning tallies had Marcellus in front 2-0. East pulled even, 2-2, in the third, and they continued the exchange in the fourth inning as East inched into a 4-3 lead.
Jon Cavaretta’s RBI grounder tied it, 4-4, in the fifth, and it stayed that way until Nick Sinay smashed a leadoff triple in the top of the seventh, igniting the decisive rally. Sinay finished with an RBI and two runs scored.
Kyle Hastings pitched the first four innings and contributed a pair of hits at the plate before Smith worked the final three innings and earned the win. Mike Welsh doubled, walked twice and scored a run as Vile and Bryan Carroll each added RBIs.
This long week commenced last Monday when Marcellus played then-unbeaten Homer and fell to the Trojans 8-4. Homer took charge with a four-run third inning against Mustang pitcher Kyle Hastings and scoring in each of the next three innings, too.
Vile did hit a home run for Marcellus, earning two RBIs as Hastings and Sinay managed one RBI apiece. John Crysler and Bryan Carroll both worked in relief.
The Mustangs turned around on Wednesday and topped Cazenovia, using three runs in the first inning to move in front for good, adding two-run rallies in the third and fifth to provide a further cushion.
In a fine all-around effort, Vile pitched the whole way, holding the Lakers to five hits, and earned a single, double and triple with the bat on his way to two RBIs. Hastings went deep for a home run and finished with three RBIs as Nick Sinay scored twice.
Against J-E, Marcellus threw away a 2-0 lead as the Eagles scored single runs in the third and fifth innings. But in the bottom of the fifth, the Mustangs went ahead for good with a four-run outburst, most of them due to Hastings’ home run.
All told, Hastings had three RBIs, while Mike Welsh drove in two runs and Vile, who doubled, also had an RBI. Pitching duty got split as Dan Brown went the first three innings, Bryan Carroll worked two innings in relief and earned the win before Jon Crysler earned the save.
Marcellus will host state no. 1-ranked Westhill (who was 13-0 before a Friday loss to Cazenovia) on Tuesday afternoon.
