Things turned rough for the Bishop Grimes baseball team as it played a full week of games against tough OHSL Liberty division competition.
The Cobras, who had beaten Bishop Ludden 6-2 in the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic at NBT Bank Stadium on April 25, dropped the rematch with the Gaelic Knights 5-1 just two days later.
Jack Rotondo drove home Adam Dominic in the top of the fourth inning, giving the Cobras a 1-0 lead. But Ludden pitcher Zach Walser blanked Grimes from there, only allowing five hits and managing seven strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Jim Perra kept the Gaelic Knights off the board until the bottom of the fifth, when it earned the tying run, and followed it up with a four-run rally in the sixth. Matt McGinn drove in two of Ludden’s runs, with Ian Quinn, Kevin Hawk and Matt Hosek adding single RBIs.
The offensive slump continued in Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to Solvay, who won its fifth game in a row behind the work of pitcher Sammy Kippen.
All that Kippen did was hold Grimes to six hits, two of them by Trevor Pokines, while recording six strikeouts. Jack Rotondo pitched well, too, but the Bearcats got to him for a run in the second inning and two more in the third as Kippen, Mike Cimino and Jake Dippold earned one RBI apiece.
Finally, Grimes scored some runs Friday in trying to stop red-hot Westhill, but even that couldn’t keep the Warriors from edging the Cobras 11-10.
From an 11-5 fourth-inning deficit, Grimes fought its way back with two runs in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh, and had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two out before Dominic flew out to end the game.
Chris Mancuso’s four hits paced the Grimes comeback, with Pokines adding two hits. Rotondo only lasted two innings before Tyler Hartzog and Steve Belton saw extended relief duty.
East Syracuse Minoa’s baseball team made it back-to-back wins last Tuesday, smashing Oswego 16-1 in a game that was tied, 1-1, before the Spartans scored four times in the third inning and then blew the game open with 11 runs in the fourth, a combination of big hits and defensive mistakes by the Buccaneers.
Sam Jenkins tripled as he and Jason Sweredoski both finished with three RBIs. Nick Castrello doubled and drove in two runs, while Dan Williams, Jimmy Griffin and Jake Temple each had one RBI. Shane Krawec held Oswego to one hit in his five-inning stint on the mound.
Though Fayetteville-Manlius constantly finds itself in close competition against the other main Class AA contenders, winning against them has proven quite elusive.
And that was the case again in last Tuesday’s trip to Liverpool, where the Hornets rallied to force extra frames, but lost a 5-4, nine-inning decision to the Warriors when the hosts plated a run in the bottom of the ninth.
A pair of runs in the top of the third inning helped F-M grab a 2-1 lead, but Liverpool countered with three runs in the bottom of the third. Now the Hornets rallied, using single runs in the fourth and sixth inning to draw even, 4-4, setting up the extra-inning drama.
Zach Bernstein doubled and drove in two runs, with Josh Loeffler adding a pair of RBIs. Kyle Walters singled and doubled as Colin Green started on the mound, going 4 1/3 innings before relief stints by Loeffler and Tom Flynn.
Bobby Zywicki, in a three-inning relief stint, got the win after Bianchi started. Jonah Harder, pacing the Liverpool attack, earned three hits. Pieklik had two hits, joining Zywicki, Wilkinson and Kyle Watson earning one RBI apiece.
Up against the combined Syracuse squad a day later, the Hornets didn’t get as close in an 8-3 defeat, Syracuse using three-run rallies in the second and sixth innings, plus two runs in the fifth, to gain firm control.
An 13-2 defeat to Baldwinsville followed on Friday, as F-M got first-inning run-scoring hits from Loeffler and Mitch Hoalcraft, but nothing more against relief pitcher Frank Mayosky, who tossed six innings after starter Nick Borek left due to an injury.
In the top of the third, the Bees scored three runs to go in front, eventually tagging five Hornets pitchers for 17 hits, three each by David Marsell, Pat Dubiel and Andy Chajkowski. Loeffler still went three-for-three at the plate, with Hoalcraft adding two hits.
Colin Sommers took the loss, pitching 4 2/3 innings before relief stints from Jared Shaw and Gary Smith. Anthony Nucerino had three of F-M’s seven hits, with Loefler and Jake Wittig earning RBIs, but Brian Nolan pitched a complete game for Syracuse and struck out six.
Only when it stepped out of league play on Saturday did the Hornets’ skid finally end, with F-M going to Oswego and topping the Buccaneers 10-5.
Yet even this game had some tension to it, F-M surrendering a 5-2 lead when Oswego got three runs in the bottom of the fourth. But the Hornets used five runs in the top of the seventh to go in front for good.
Nucerino piled up four RBIs, with Hoalcraft and Taylor Smach each scoring two runs. Bernstein and Loeffler joined Hoalcraft in the RBI column. Hoalcraft and Smach also pitched three scoreless innings of relief after Tom Flynn got the start.
