Denied a chance at upending Westhill by last Tuesday’s heavy rains, the Marcellus baseball team instead set its sights on another neighbor to continue its late-season surge.
The Mustangs met Solvay twice in three days, and won them both to extend its win streak to six games before finally cooling off in a Saturday doubleheader.
The first game with Solvay made up for an April 23 weather postponement, and the combination of Nick Sinay’s power and Mike Welsh’s deft pitching led to an 8-0 shutout of the Bearcats.
Sinay first went deep in the bottom of the third inning, helping the Mustangs establish a 3-0 lead. Then, in the sixth, Sinay struck again, going over the wall and running his total to six RBIs as part of a decisive five-run outburst. Jake Welsh and Phil Zdanowski both scored twice.
Welsh, who beat Skaneateles 2-1 in his last outing, didn’t need anything more than the first round-tripper. In a four-hit complete game, Welsh drew five walks, but struck out four and constantly got out of trouble, never letting Solvay get on the board.
The rematch followed on Friday afternoon, and one big inning propelled the Mustangs to yet another victory, this one by an 11-7 margin.
Solvay’s three-run second inning gave the hosts a 3-2 lead. But in the top of the third, Marcellus erupted for seven runs, going through its entire order as Zdanowski, Kyle Hasings and Jake Welch each earned a pair of RBIs. Sinay and Brendon Sammon each scored twice.
Hastings pitched four innings, earning the win, and though Colin Smith had a rough time in relief, he still went the rest of the way. In defeat, Solvay’s Jaron Payne and Brandon Pelose each had two RBIs, with John Savo, Nate Antonacci and Dan Fantacone driving in one run apiece.
By now, the Mustangs were tired, and it caught up to them in a Saturday doubleheader where it lost twice in two separate venues.
First, the Mustangs went to Cazenovia, losing to the Lakers 8-3. A quick 2-0 lead attained by Hastings’ two-run double was gone when, in the bottom of the first, the Lakers erupted for six runs, and Marcellus never recovered, even as Hastings added another RBI in the late going.
Back home later that afternoon, Marcellus fell again, 10-8, to Hannibal, and this was more painful because it led 6-2 before the Warriors, emulating Cazenovia, used one big inning to go in front, scoring seven times in the top of the fifth to go in front 9-6.
For the second time this week, Sinay pounded out a pair of home runs, finishing with four RBIs. Jon Cavaretta had a team-high three hits, while Vile doubled and drove in a run.
Prior to all this, Solvay appeared to be setting itself up as a threat for the Section III Class B playoffs. The Bearcats’ good work continued in last Monday’s game at Jordan-Elbridge, where it ignored the rain and pushed itself to an 8-3 victory over the Eagles.
What was a 1-1 tie changed in the top of the fourth inning, when Solvay scored twice off J-E pitcher Bryce MacClurg. A three-run fifth inning followed, giving the Bearcats a cushion.
Carmen Gacek did not allow a hit in five innings of work that included six strikeouts, but still gave way in the sixth to Joe Cintron, who pitched the final two innings of relief.
Dan Fantacone led the way with three hits and two runs scored, while Joe Tolone added a pair of hits and scored twice. J-E’s Christian Marrero led his side with a pair of RBIs.
J-E also lost Wednesday to Cazenovia, 5-0. Despite Bryce MacClurg’s pair of hits and Dylan Sylvester’s solid effort on the mound, the Lakers used a pair of two-run rallies in the fourth and sixth innings to break the game open. On Thursday, the Eagles took an 8-1 defeat to Phoenix.
The Eagles’ skid finally ended Saturday with a 5-3 win over Weedsport as it used two runs in the bottom of the fifth to erase a 3-2 deficit, tacking on an insurance run in the sixth. MacClurg got the win, piling up 13 strikeouts to negate the 10 hits he allowed.
