What was the primary concern for the Baldwinsville baseball team going into the 2015 season would remain its biggest hurdle when things ended two months later – namely, the ability to get men on base and then bring them home for valuable runs.
Given the no. 7 seed in the Section III Class AA playoffs, the Bees had to meet no. 2 seed West Genesee in Thursday’s quarterfinal, a team with a 15-5 record, but whom B’ville had defeated 7-5 just two weeks earlier.
Here, though, the stakes were higher, the pitching was better on both sides – and the Bees could not repeat that earlier success, falling to the Wildcats 2-0.
Cody Kaestle, B’ville’s top pitcher, opposed WG’s Evan Reichel. Through the first two innings, it remained 0-0, and it was quickly apparent that whichever team scored first may gain a major advantage.
That break came in the bottom of the third. Will Randall reached base, igniting a Wildcats rally that saw Reichel and Colin BeVard get credited with RBIs.
Kaestle settled down from there, not allowing any more runs in a complete-game effort where he limited WG to five hits and, despite hitting two batters, did not walk anyone.
Yet the Bees never could solve Reichel, managing just three hits, one each by Pat Dubiel, David Marsell and Tom Scarfino. Reichel struck out four as WG advanced to face Liverpool in Sunday’s AA semifinal while B’ville finished its season with an 11-10 record.
