In the face of tough Section III Class AA competition everywhere it looked, the Baldwinsville baseball team tried to hold its own, but that didn’t prove easy.
The Bees went to Falcon Park last Monday to meet defending Section III Class AA champion Auburn, who remembered how B’ville got them 5-3 back on April 13.
Auburn got even, shutting out the Bees 10-0 in a game that was close most of the way, B’ville only trailing 2-0 until the Maroons got three runs in the fifth inning and five more runs in the sixth.
Carson Hayes took the loss, with Billy Clifford and Cameron Morrissey seeing relief stints. At the plate, B’ville slumped again, getting just two hits (one each by Charlie McAllister and David Marsell) off Auburn starter Stephen Bennett in his five innings of work. Mike Charles, Justin Valentino and T.J. Baranick each had three RBIs to lead the Maroons’ attack.
Back home to take on the combined Syracuse city squad a day later, the Bees looked to repeat its 2-1 victory from April 14, and did so in an even more emphatic manner, totally reversing its Auburn debacle by using one big late rally to pull out a 9-2 victory.
Single runs in the first two innings gave B’ville a 2-0 advantage. But the Bees were blanked over the next four innings, and Syracuse scored twice off Cody Kaestle in the top of the fifth to pull even, 2-2. All told, Kaestle went six innings, striking out six.
Everything changed, though, in the bottom of the sixth. B’ville batted around, using a series of clutch hits to produce seven runs, something Syracuse could not answer.
Nick Mirizio finished with a pair of RBIs, with Clifford and Marsell also driving in runs. Clifford, Marsell and Tom Scarfino had two hits apiece and Scarfino also got a pair of walks. Sam Mahar also walked twice.
B’ville was off until Saturday’s non-league game against Bishop Ludden, but in that game it used steady production to withstand the Gaelic Knights’ outbursts and claim an 8-5 victory.
In each of the first five innings, the Bees managed at least one run, capped by a three-run third. B’ville gained 12 hits, three each by Mahar and Pat Dubiel, as McAllister earned two hits and three RBIs and Dubiel, scoring twice, drove in a pair of runs.
Even though Ludden teammates Jack Rauch and Bobby Weigan both hit home runs and combined to drive in all five of the Gaelic Knights’ runs, B’ville stayed on top as Ben Webb pitched four innings, with Frank Mayosky and Nick Borek also seeing mound duty.
