In locations both grand and modest, the Westhill baseball team was able to stay undefeated and atop the OHSL Liberty division, despite all kinds of close calls.
The Warriors went to NBT Bank Stadium last Monday for a game against Skaneateles in the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic, and the combination of strong relief pitching from Joe Sweeny, plus timely late hits, produced an 8-3 victory over the Lakers.
Though Westhill scored the game’s first run, Skaneateles inched into a 3-2 lead with single tallies in the second, third and fourth innings that chased Warriors starter Mike Burton.
Enter Sweeny, who would toss 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, holding the Lakers to three hits and striking out two, giving the Warriors ample time to rally.
And in the bottom of the fifth, Westhill got to Skaneateles starter John Teixeira for three runs to move in front for good, one coming home on Jeff Lobello’s RBI ground, and the 3-3 tie broken when Bobby Antonacci singled home Jesse Chester, and an error allowed Sweeny to score.
Not content with that, Westhill clinched it with three more runs in the sixth off Teixeira and relief replacement Joe Buck, largely due to wild pitches and dropped third strikes.
A day later, back on its home diamond, the Warriors faced Phoenix and had to work hard to fight off a valiant effort from the visitors and beat the Firebirds 4-3.
Twice, Phoenix took early leads, of 1-0 in the first inning and 3-2 in the third inning. Both times, Westhill rallied, with Lobello and Brad Canavan driving in runs in the first and Chester’s single scoring Lobello to tie it, 3-3, in the third.
They stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth. Luke Sekowski walked, and pinch-runner Alex Kiley stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and, after a walk, raced home when Sam Walsh beat out a possible double-play grounder.
Charged to protect that one-run lead in the seventh, Antonacci, who had relieved Connor Tackley in the third, walked Taylor Ashby, but Ashby was thrown out trying to steal second.
With two out, Phoenix’s Jordan Jock doubled, and Ryan Wranesh ran for him. Gambling, the Warriors intentionally walked the possible go-ahead run, Dan Frawley, and nearly saw it backfire when Zach Schlachter singled – but Wranesh was thrown out at home trying to tie it, and Westhill’s perfect league mark was kept intact.
Against Jordan-Elbridge on Wednesday afternoon, Westhill had far less drama, shutting out the Eagles 10-0, though most of those runs came in a seven-run sixth inning that broke the game open.
Prior to that, J-E pitcher Dan Kuehnle had mostly contained the Warriors’ lineup, but the breakout included two hits apiece from Chester, Galen Hayes and Alex Kiley. Also, it gave a cushion to Roland, who had relieved John Ansonia as the pair combined to hold the Eagles to two hits, both of them by Jonah Patrick.
Then the Warriors faced Bishop Grimes on Friday and nearly saw a big lead vanish before it held on at the end to beat the Cobras 11-10.
Having knocked out starter Jack Rotondo with eight runs in two-plus innings, Westhill was up, 11-5, before seeing Grimes score twice in the sixth and then get three runs in the seventh, putting the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Antonacci got Adam Dominic to fly out to end it.
Antonacci was pitching in relief after stints from Burton and Corey Demauro. It was Chris Coates, with his three hits and four RBIs, who helped the Warriors build that early margin as Canavan added two hits and two RBIs. Chester, Joe Sweeny, Joe Carello and Sam Walsh had one RBI apiece.
