Ultimately, the West Genesee baseball team understood that getting one win per three games in the new CNY Counties League series format was not going to lead to long-term success.
So, having lost two of three to Cicero-North Syracuse the week before, the Wildcats turned to Liverpool, but immediately got into trouble again in the form of a hot Warriors pitcher, Joel Ciccarelli, who shut down WG last Monday in a 9-0 defeat.
Other than singles from Brian VanBeveren and Mike Bonacci and a walk to Marshall Winn, no one could solve Ciccarelli, who kept ringing up easy innings as he accumulated nine strikeouts and got plenty of support, too.
Liverpool steadily built a 3-0 advantage against Wildcats pitcher Marshall Winn before knocking him out in the fifth. Three relievers – Billy O’Brien, Chris Peer and Nick Graham – worked, too, but it proved too late, WG undone by six errors as the Warriors, by contrast, played error-free ball.
In the second game of the series on Wednesday afternoon, WG at least got on the board – but lost again, 9-3, to Liverpool, and what made it more frustrating was that it led 2-1 before the Warriors, again, made the fifth inning decisive, picking up six runs to move in front.
Matt Kot finished with a pair of RBIs, while VanBeveren had two hits and scored twice. Colin BeVard walked twice and scored the other run. Kevin Donohue pitched until that fifth innings, when his struggles led to relief stints from O’Brien and Keith Hagen. Jake Evans led Liverpool with three hits and three RBIs.
Looking to salvage the third game on Thursday afternoon, WG almost did so before a furious seventh-inning comeback fell short in a 4-3 defeat to the Warriors.
Kyle Korzeniewski started and struggled in the top of the first, surrendering three runs. But after allowing a third-inning run, Korzeniewski blanked Liverpool the rest of the way and waited for some help from the offense.
Other than a first-inning run, though, WG had done little against Warriors pitcher Dillan Wilkinson and trailed, 4-1, before getting two runs in the bottom of the seventh, threatening to tie or win it before Luke Evans, relieving Wilkinson, recorded the final out.
Still, WG’s offense struggled throughout the game, managing just five hits, two of them from VanBeveren. BeVard and Kot got credit for RBIs as Rocco Leone and Anthony Sgroi led Liverpool with three hits apiece, Leone adding two RBIs.
Yet another one-run defeat followed on Friday, WG falling to Auburn 8-7 as a 3-0 lead vanished when the Maroons scored five runs in the bottom of the third, chasing BeVard, who got the start.
Hagen and Mike Bonacci did enough in relief to help the Wildcats climb back and take leads of 6-5 and 7-6 in the latter stages, but neither of them held up, Auburn scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth and hanging on.
To some degree, WG was aided by Auburn’s porous defense, who committed seven errors. Again, the Wildcats had just five hits, with Dan Purcell’s double one of them as he recorded two RBIs. VanBeveren, Kot and Will Haag had one RBI apiece.
Finally, the skid was broken Saturday when WG defeated Niskayuna (Section II) by a 5-2 margin, using four runs in the bottom of the second to erase a 2-1 deficit.
Winn, O’Brien and James Randall combined to shut out the Silver Warriors the rest of the way, with Winn having earned an RBI at the plate. BeVard tripled and drove in a run as VanBeveren and Haag also had RBIs in those early innings.
Moving to softball, West Genesee hit a brief skid starting on April 23 when it lost, 19-6, to Molloy at a tournament in Mudville. Two days later, the Wildcats visited Rome Free Academy and took a 6-4 defeat to the Black Knights.
A pair of first-inning runs briefly put WG in front before RFA answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. The Wildcats tied it, 3-3, only to see the Black Knights notch single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings that made the ultimate difference.
WG managed just three hits, one each by Mallory Kovacs, Mya Case and Grace Schnorr, but Case scored a pair of runs, aided by seven RFA errors. Despite its defensive issues, the Black Knights still handled Wildcats pitcher Deanna Shackleton as Olivia Guy and Alexus Schulze each got two hits, with Guy adding a pair of RBIs.
Tuesday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius was rained out, but the Wildcats would return home Thursday to face red-hot Baldwinsville and rally twice in the late going, only to take a 7-3, nine-inning defeat to the Bees.
Two
fourth-inning runs had B’ville up 2-0 before WG tied it, 2-2, in the bottom of the sixth, chasing Bees starter Emma Bernet. In the top of the seventh, the Bees went back in front, 3-2, but the Wildcats, down to its last outs, pulled even again with a single run.
Only in the top of the ninth did Shackleton, who pitched the entire game, wear down, B’ville tagging her for four runs. For the game, Shackleton had seven strikeouts, but allowed 17 hits. At the plate, Case, Kovacs and Katie Drogo each got two hits, while Laura Webster, Emily Winton and Amanda Prell got credit for one RBI apiece.
Visiting Marcellus on Friday, the Wildcats gained a 12-7 victory by settling down after giving up four first-inning runs. Scoring six times in the second inning, WG went in front for good, but couldn’t put the Mustangs away until notching three runs in the top of the seventh.
Prell went deep for a home run, added a double, scored three times and earned four RBIs. Drogo doubled twice and drove in two runs, while Case also had two RBIs. Lazore added three hits. For Marcellus, Alyssa Cook got three hits as Emily Durand drove in two runs. Sydney Lewis, Evelyn Webster and Emily Welch had one RBI apiece.
