To keep itself in form during the long off-season, the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team made the short trip to Camillus Saturday to play in four games against top competition as part of the annual Wildcat Invitational at West Genesee High School.
Each year, as part of the John Pepper Memorial Tournament weekend, 16 teams, representing the Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo areas, plus North Carolina and Georgia, gather for four games apiece in front of more than 90 coaches from dozens of college programs.
B’ville found itself facing two local powers, including the opener against Fayetteville-Manlius. Reviving their league contests, the Bees played solid defense throughout the pair of 23-minute halves, but didn’t produce enough in a 6-3 defeat to the Hornets.
Moving on to the second round on WG’s turf field, the Bees were in trouble again, only to fight out of it with a scoring burst late in the second half to beat Watertown IHC 10-8.
Class B powerhouse Jamesville-DeWitt awaited in the third game, and again B’ville lost, this time by a 10-6 margin, but the Bees closed the day well, routing Canandaigua 13-6, and perhaps taking comfort from the fact that its neighbors from Liverpool went 0-4 during the day.
J-D edged F-M 11-10 in the final game to complete a 4-0 tournament run, matched only by Buffalo’s Timon/St. Jude, who outscored its four opponents by a combined 47-16. West Genesee’s junior varsity side went 3-0-1, even outperforming the varsity Wildcats, who only went 1-1-2.
