From the beginning of this season, West Genesee’s baseball team has counted on Sean Pisik as a stopper, earning key wins whenever it was really needed.
That certainly applied to last Monday’s game against Baldwinsville. Coming off weekend losses to Fayetteville-Manlius and Syracuse East, the Wildcats needed Pisik to step up – and he did, leading his side to a 7-4 victory over the Bees.
After allowing a first-inning run, Pisik settled in, blanking B’ville for the rest of his five-inning stint. He allowed six hits and five walks, but kept getting out of trouble thanks to solid defense behind him, no mean feat on a wet field.
WG went in front with two runs in the first and third innings, with Steve Payette and Nick DeJohn earning RBIs. After the Bees cut the margin to 4-2, the Wildcats extended the lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to Payette’s triple and Trevor Finney’s two-run double.
Those runs were needed, as B’ville pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh, forcing Mike Sgroi out of his relief stint. Wes Randall stepped in and recorded the final two outs to earn the save.
Rained out of Tuesday’s game with defending Class AA champion Liverpool (they’ll make it up this Wednesday), WG was off until Thursday, when it met Syracuse West and saw Matt Naton deliver another fine pitching performance in a 5-1 victory.
Though Syracuse West had a second-inning run and briefly led 1-0, the Wildcats erased that with single runs in the next three innings, plus two runs in the seventh. Nate Flask drove in two of those runs as Pisik earned three hits. Naton, Finney and Bailey Gauthier each had one RBI.
Other than that early run, Naton was in full control, the right-hander holding Syracuse West to four hits and only surrendering a pair of walks while striking out eight.
In softball, West Genesee’s late rally fell just short in a 4-3 loss to Baldwinsville, a game where a slow start proved costly.
The Wildcats gave up single runs in each of the first three innings and trailed, 3-0, before finally getting on the board in the top of the fifth.
As it turned out, the Bees’ run in the bottom of the fifth was the game-winner, as WG moved within one by the top of the seventh, only to see B’ville pitche Elizabeth Campbell record the final outs.
Tess Andrews, Sarah Sauda and Morgan Nichols each had RBIs in that late Wildcat push as Kaleigh Churchill, Katie McIntyre and Trish Andrews scored the runs. Morgan Nichols pitched the whole way, striking out six while allowing six hits and two walks.
Frustrated by this, WG let out that frustration Thursday in a 23-0 romp of Syracuse West where Ashely D’Avirro, who broke her wrist in the pre-season, returned to the pitcher’s circle and teamed with Churchill for a no-hitter.
D’Avirro worked five innings for her gem, and during that time WG scored eight runs in the second and seven runs in the third on its way to 20 hits. Churchill, Trish Andrews and Katie Regin each had four RBIs, while Tess Andrews and Kaleigh McGraw drove in three runs apiece. Combined, the Andrews sisters scored nine runs.
