Here was a chance for the Baldwinsville baseball team to jump back into the fray among the major Section III Class AA title contenders – and after an initial misstep, the Bees did just that, knocking off state Class AA no. 8-ranked West Genesee 7-5 on Thursday afternoon.
Having lost, 9-6, to Cicero-North Syracuse the day before, B’ville was dealing with a Wildcats side that had routed them 11-0 when the two sides met in Camillus on April 29.
Tom Scarfino pitched, and got immediate support when the Bees tagged WG starter Ryan Greco for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.
After the Wildcats went up, 3-2, in the top of the second, B’ville grabbed back the lead, this time for good, with its own two-run second frame. Then it tacked on three runs in the third to chase Greco and extend its margin to 7-3.
Pat Dubiel, with two hits, two runs scored and one RBI, led the charge. David Marsell, Billy Clifford and Dan Engels also drove in runs. Andrew Chajkowski scored twice as Niko Mirizio and Charlie McAllister also crossed the plate.
Staked to that 7-3 lead, Scarfino held on to it, even though WG used single runs in the fourth and fifth inning to cut the margin in half. In his complete-game effort, Scarfino held the Wildcats to six hits, three of them by Will Randall, while striking out six and only allowing one walk.
Just 24 hours earlier, when it made up last Monday’s postponed game with B’ville, the Bees got off to the ideal start here, too – but even that wasn’t enough against the Northstars.
Cody Kaestle was pitching against C-NS for the second time this season, having thrown a two-hitter on April 20 at the Gillette Road complex but losing, 1-0, to the Northstars and its ace, Steven Theetge, who threw a one-hitter.
Theetge didn’t pitch here, as Sam Spadafore got the start. During the bottom of the first inning, the Bees jumped all over Spadafore, batting around and scoring five runs, one each by Clifford, Dubiel, Mirizio, Engels and McCallister.
Spadafore settled down and blanked B’ville until the bottom of the fifth. By that point, the Northstars had gone in front, getting two runs in the third inning and chasing Kaestle with five runs in the top of the fifth.
With the score 7-6 in the sixth inning, the Northstars again scored twice, this time against reliever Matt Borek, and C-NS’s Brad Hamilton tossed two scoreless innings after relieving Spadafore, the Bees managing just four hits overall, two of them by David Marsell.
Beginning this stretch of three games in a three-day span, the Bees went to Central Square last Tuesday afternoon, and while it didn’t do much at the plate, it still beat the Redhawks 4-1.
Central Square’s lone run came in the second inning, but the Bees quickly answered, scoring twice in the top of the third and tacking on two more runs in the fifth inning.
Marsell had hits in both rallies, finishing with three RBIs as Dubiel drove in the other run. Dubiel, Chajkowski, Scarfino and Sam Mahar each scored a run.
Meanwhile, starting pitcher Carson Hayes lasted five innings, overcoming eight Redhawks hits with solid defense that kept his team in front. Clifford took over in relief in the sixth, giving up three walks, but also escaping trouble to pick up the save.
This up-and-down week for the Bees would end Saturday with a 6-2 defeat to Oswego, with B’ville scoring twice in the bottom of the third, Mahar and Scarfino scoring the runs, only to have the Buccaneers get five runs in the top of the fourth to move in front for good.
Oswego pitcher Chris Sullivan held the Bees to four hits, one each by Scarfino, Dubiel, Chajkowski and McAllister. Liam Moran led the Bucs with a single and double.
At 11-7 on the season, B’ville would host Liverpool and Corning in the final week of the regular season to try and gain some momentum (and possibly a better seed) before Sunday’s announcement of the Section III Class AA playoff brackets.
