Each of Baldwinsville’s diamond sides knew that, at some point, the road would end for the 2014 seasons. But they probably didn’t imagine it happening so soon.
This was especially the case for the baseball Bees, who rode strong pitching all the way to its first-ever state Class AA championship a season ago, but in this case did not got make it past its post-season opener.
The return of pitching ace Scott Blewett was supposed to at least push B’ville, the no. 2 seed, past Saturday’s Section III Class AA quarterfinal against no. 7 seed Auburn – but when Blewett had to exit, the Maroons took full advantage, stunning the Bees 2-1.
Blewett had not started a game on the mound since May 2, when he tossed five shutout innings against Fayetteville-Manlius. Arm trouble had restricted him to designated hitter duty, B’ville siding with caution for a prospect that could go in the first round of the Major League Baseball Draft early next month.
Now, though, Blewett was ready to go again, and for four innings he was solid and effective, giving up two hits and two walks, but keeping Auburn off the board.
At the same time, though, the Bees couldn’t produce anything off Auburn ace Justin Valentino, and so the game stayed 0-0 into the fifth, when Brett DeLola took over on the mound for B’ville.
The Maroons would solve DeLola and score both of its runs in the fifth, Brandon Fasce and Nick Petrosino crossing the plate as John Rizzo recorded an RBI single.
B’ville, trailing 2-0, would get a run in the sixth off Valentino as Kevin Paul singled and scored, but even though DeLola and reliever John Merucrio kept Auburn off the board after the fifth, Steve Bennett, relieving Valentino, retired the Bees in the seventh to end it.
As this was going on, B’ville’s softball team, saddled with a no. 5 seed in its Class AA sectional bracket, had to travel to no. 4 seed Central Square, and could not get in the board in a 2-0 defeat to the Red Hawks.
These two sides had met twice earlier in the month, splitting those games. Now, in the third and most important encounter, Keeana Wolcik pitched for B’ville against Central Square ace Kelsey Morgan.
Together, they kept the game 0-0 until the bottom of the third, when the Red Hawks poked across a run. Then it scored again an inning later as Taylor House and Emilee Reisterer crossed the plate and Maria Francisco got credit for an RBI.
Wolcik allowed just six hits overall, striking out four. But Morgan was even better, limiting the Bees to four hits – one each by Serena Capsello, Kyra Hunsinger, Melissa Mitchell and Elizabeth Johns – and preserving the shutout all the way.
B’ville’s season ended with a mark of 11-8, but it included an early-season 2-1 win over defending state champion Cicero-North Syracuse on April 3 and a perfect game thrown by Emma Bernet against Syracuse East in a 6-0 win on May 9.
