When put together, the Solvay baseball team got the best of Westhill on April 18 as Bearcats pitcher Jake Dippold threw a no-hitter.
But the two sides proved quite effective when hundreds of miles apart during the school break as the Warriors did something Solvay could not do the week before – namely, beat Skaneateles.
Westhill did so as part of a group of OHSL Liberty division teams that made the trip south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where the schedule was set up so that league games could take place.
That included the Warriors facing then-unbeaten Skaneateles and giving the Lakers its first blemish of the season in a 7-1 decision. Then the Warriors made it back-to-back league wins by shutting out Bishop Grimes 8-0 a day later.
This dominance continued Wednesday, when Westhill pounded Cazenovia 12-1, scoring in each of the first five innings and helped in no small part by these other Lakers committing nine errors.
All of these fielding mistakes helped hide the fact that Cazenovia got nine hits to Westhill’s seven. Still, Chris Coates and Jacob Puglisi each drove in two runs, with Brad Canavan adding an RBI. Puglisi, Ryan Roland and Alex Kiley scored two runs apiece in support of Cory Demauro, who struck out six in five innings before Tom Cunningham worked the last two innings in relief.
Westhill won again Thursday, 3-2, over Watertown to complete a perfect 4-0 run through Myrtle Beach. Connor Tackley struck out nine in his 4 2/3 inning starting stint and did not allow an earned run,
Back home, Solvay met Marcellus last Monday afternoon and won, 7-2, over the Mustangs, though it didn’t look good at first as Marcellus tagged Dippold for a pair of first-inning runs. Jake Schettine singled and scored on John Houser’s single as Chris Torell also crossed the plate.
Dippold no-hit the Mustangs from there, piling up 13 strikeouts against just two walks and two hit batsmen as the Bearcats used three runs in the third to take the lead and tacked on more runs against Schettine and relief replacement Tyler Manthey.
Blake Bagozzi doubled, singled twice and finished with a pair of RBIs. Brett Peterson, Sammy Kippen, Josh Chrysler and Mike Cimino each drove in one run as Dustin Harris scored twice, the only Solvay player to do so.
In a non-league game on Thursday, Solvay beat Pulaski 13-6, scoring all of its runs in the first three innings, aided by the Blue Devils’ seven errors. Still, Kippen earned a pair of RBIs, with Dippold, Mike Yaizzo, Jake Kyanka and Nate Kosecki also driving in runs and Brett Peterson pitching four innings to earn the win.
Then it was back to league play on Saturday, and Solvay topped Hannibal 5-2, with single runs in each of the last three innings, starting in the fifth, that broke up a 2-2 tie and supported Kyanka, who held those other Warriors to six hits and earned 11 strikeouts.
Only Dippold had two hits in a balanced Bearcats lineup, but Yaizzo, helped by a single and walk, scored three runs, while Kippen had two RBIs. Kyanka and Cimino also drove in runs. Bagozzi scored a run and pitched the seventh inning to earn the save.
Jordan-Elbridge won big last Monday, handling Blessed Virgin Mary 8-1 as the Eagles scored three first-inning runs to set the tone and added another three-run rally in the fourth to get away.
Zach Pangaro’s three hits led to four RBIs as Dan Kuehnle also had three hits, scoring three runs. Jordan Osborn, Geoff Lippa and Tristan Ashby had one RBI apiece as George Richarsdon pitched his best game of the season, limiting BVM to five hits and striking out eight.
A narrow 3-2 defeat to Union Springs followed on Wednesday afternoon, which kept the Eagles from climbing to the .500 mark, while on Friday Marcellus roared back into the win column, stopping Mexico 7-1.
Manthey threw a complete game for the Mustangs, limiting the Tigers to two hits while recording six strikeouts. Marcellus gained a 3-0 lead through two innings and added three runs in the fifth as Jake Schettine earned two RBIs, with John Houser adding a double and RBI.
