One benefit of the Bishop Ludden baseball team’s move into the OHSL Liberty division was the renewal of its rivalry with Westhill.
And for a brief moment last Monday afternoon, the Gaelic Knights were in front – but that proved fleeting as the Warriors took over in the latter stages and pulled away for a 10-2 victory.
Neither team scored until the fourth winning, when Ludden grabbed a 2-1 edge thanks to RBIs from the tandem of Jack Rauch and Zach Walser off Westhill pitcher Corey DeMauro.
But Westhill quickly answered, getting to Walser for three runs in the top of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead and then batting around in th seventh, adding six runs to create a more lopsided result than the game would indicate.
Accumulating 14 hits, the Warriors saw Sam Walsh, Brad Canavan, Jeff Lobello, Ryan Roland and Brian O’Mara get two hits apiece. Walsh and Galen Hayes each drove in two runs, with single RBIs going to Lobello, Roland, O’Mara, Chris Coates and Mike Burton.
Contrasting Westhill’s getaway, Solvay blew a late lead to visiting Skaneateles, only to recover and, with its own dramatic rally, earn a 7-6 victory over the Lakers.
Josh Rutkowski pitched quite well until the sixth, when Skaneateles, trailing 4-1, scored twice to move within a run. Then, despite the relief work of Brandon Franklin and Jake Kyanka, Skaneateles poured in three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-4 lead.
At that point, though, Skaneateles replaced its starting pitcher, John Teixeira, with Jim Drancsak, and Solvay proceeded to pounce on Drancsak, putting across the trio of runs it needed to pull it out.
Sammy Kippen, with a single, double and three RBIs, led the Bearcats at the plate. Colin Lucio added three hits and an RBI, while Brett Peterson doubled and drove in a run. Mike Yiazzo singled, doubled and scored twice.
Jordan-Elbridge won its second straight game last Monday, stopping Hannibal 7-3. With the score tied, 3-3, the Eagles used two runs in the fifth and sixth innings to get in front for good, seeing George Richardson, Bryce MacClurg and Ryan Cooper each finish with two RBIs.
Cooper and Zach Pangaro had three hits apiece, with Austin Barrigar adding a double and RBI. Richardson pitched a complete game, holding Hannibal to four hits while striking out six.
Here, the Eagles’ brief win streak would end, as on a chilly, wet Wednesday afternoon J-E took its turn against Skaneateles, and its bats went quiet in a 5-2 defeat to the Lakers.
Marcellus did not play until Friday, when it braved the cold and kicked off the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic at NBT Bank Stadium with a 4-1 victory over East Syracuse Minoa.
Bryan Carroll pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits but striking out five. The Mustangs got to Spartans pitcher Tom Ghika for single runs in the second, third and sixth innings as Matt Gooden and Chris Torell each doubled and drove in a run, with Adam Molinari adding an RBI.
A day later, Bishop Ludden took its turn on the Syracuse Chiefs’ home field, facing Bishop Grimes, and started strong, but could not sustain it in a 6-2 loss to the Cobras.
Jake Bianchi and Matt Hosek scored runs in the top of the first, putting the Gaelic Knights up 2-0, and taking his turn on the mound, Bianchi preserved that lead until the fifth, when Grimes struck for three runs to go out in front.
In the sixth, the Cobras added three more runs against Bianchi and reliever Ian Quinn, James Belton leading the way for Grimes with a triple, single and three RBIs. Meanwhile, Ludden managed just two hits, one each from Bianchi and Robbie Weigan, off Cobras starter Jack Rotondo.
As this went on, Marcellus, in a far less grand setting, won for the second in a row, improving to 5-3 on the season and dropping Oswego 3-1 behind a superb pitching performance from Colin Smith, who limited the Buccaneers to four hits and managed 10 strikeouts while allowing just one walk.
Oswego pitcher Josh Carney matched zeroes with Smith until the fifth, when Marcellus put across the go-ahead run, and then tacked on two more runs an inning later. Molinari and Welsh both finished with two hits, and each scored a run, as did Carlo Mancini.
