Some strong late-season work by the Cazenovia baseball team would help it secure a place in the Section III Class B playoffs and climb up to the .500 mark at 9-9 at the end of a particularly busy stretch caused by all of the early-season weather issues.
The Lakers wasted little time getting on the board in last Monday’s game at Jordan-Elbridge and added lots more runs before it put away the Eagles 15-4.
By scoring three times in the top of the first inning, Cazenovia gained a lead it would not relinquish, but just to be sure it throttled J-E with eight runs in the third for an 11-0 lead.
Drew Devendorf led the way, going four-for-four with a double, walk, three singles and three runs scored. Evan Begley’s pair of hits led to two RBIs, while Casey Fenton doubled and drove in two runs. Kevin Ridings and Will Fellows joined Devendorf with single RBIs.
Given that the Lakers had used up its pitching staff in recent days, six different guys went to the mound, none lasting longer than Fellows, who went three innings without allowing a hit and striking out five.
Cazenovia then played a doubleheader Wednesday against Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, emerging with a split of that twin bill with the Rebels and that all-important, playoff-clinching eighth win.
In the opener, the Lakers beat the Rebels 7-1, using a three-run first inning to go out in front and adding single runs in each of the next four frames.
Ridings held APW to three hits in four innings of work, with Peter DeCew and Cooper Holgate handling three strong innings of relief. Devendorf , Evan Cornell and Ryman Seeley each got two hits at the plate, with Seeley and Fenton scoring two runs apiece. DeCew and Fellows joined Seeley, Devendorf and Cornell in the RBI column.
Then the The Lakers lost the second game, 4-3, trading two-run rallies as Rebels seized a 4-2 lead in the third inning. Cazenovia poked across a run in the fifth to pull within one, but could not pull back even, stranding two runners in the sixth after walks to Seeley and Cornell.
All told, the Lakers managed just three hits off APW pitchers Ty Christian and James Corey. Fellows, Ridings and Cornell scored Cazenovia’s runs.
This long, busy stretch for the Lakers concluded on a windy Thursday afternoon with a productive first inning that lead to a 10-3 home victory in a rematch with Jordan-Elbridge.
Perhaps alerted by the Eagles’ pair of runs in the top of the first inning, Cazenovia jumped all over J-E starter Zach Barrigar with seven runs in the bottom of the first and took control from there.
Jacob Sschettine had a team-high three hits, scoring twice and adding an RBI. Seeley and Noah King each had two hits and two RBIs, with Cornell and Billy Rankin getting two hits apiece.
Again aware of the fatigue in the pitching staff (this was the team’s ninth game in 11 days), Laker head coach Jay Steinhorst spread his work around in this game. DeCew went three innings and got the win, with Fellows, Rankin and Holgate all seeing stints, too, by games’ end.
Before it returned to league action, Cazenovia first had to go through the second part of the Syracuse City Tournament it played at NBT Bank Stadium.
The Lakers had lost, 8-7, to Phoenix in the May 10 opener when it scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 7-5 lead, only to surrender three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
It would just as close in last Sunday’s game against Syracuse West, but this time the Lakers pulled it out, winning by a score of 5-4.
Early leads of 1-0 and 3-1 disappeared, the latter of them coming when Syracuse West scored three runs in the bottom of the third. But the Lakers reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring twice, and held on from there.
Ridings overcame a shaky start and pitched a complete game, allowing six hits, but not giving up a walk while earning four strikeouts. Ridings also got a pair of hits as Fellows walked four times and, from those walks, scored three runs. Rankin and Joe Zambito also scored runs.
