Given the lack of quality pitching options, West Genesee baseball star Colin BeVard agreed to take his turns on the mound this spring – and in just his fourth start, he produced a masterpiece.
The SUNY Cortland-bound senior managed a no-hitter in last Thursday’s game against Christian Brothers Academy at NBT Bank Stadium, delivering the big highlight of the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic as the Wildcats shut out the Brothers 8-0.
Prior to this season, BeVard had never pitched for WG, but his scant mound experience meant little on this day, when he mixed up fastballs and breaking balls in an 86-pitch effort that didn’t require much stress.
Just three CBA batters drew walks, and another got hit, while the Wildcats made a pair of errors. But BeVard finished off the no-hitter with a comfortable lead that he helped to build.
WG scored runs in five of the first six innings against four different Brothers pitchers, and BeVard delivered a pair of RBIs. Marshall Winn and Brian VanBeveren each had three hits, combining to score three runs as VanBeveren joined Joe Payette and Will Haag in the RBI column.
A day later, the Wildcats were back home to make up the last of the two early-April snowed-out games against Auburn, who also had played at NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday and had knocked off Cicero-North Syracuse 2-1 after two defeats to the Northstars earlier in the week.
The momentum of BeVard’s no-hitter carried over as WG smashed the Maroons 12-3 to climb back to the .500 mark (7-7), netting two runs in each of the first two innings and gaining a 5-1 edge before a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth settled matters.
Winn, who pitched six innings and held Auburn to four hits, had a team-best three RBIs at the plate. BeVard singled twice, walked three other times, scored twice and drove in two other runs as VanBeveren and Chris Peer also got two RBIs. Matt Frazee and Nick Graham had one RBI apiece.
Not to be outdone by their male diamond counterparts, for the first time in recent memory, the West Genesee softball team is in proud possession of a sweep over C-NS, who had long dominated this CNY Counties League series.
What’s more, the Wildcats earned it in an exciting manner during last Tuesday’s game in Camillus, overcoming two different deficits to pull out a 7-4 victory over the Northstars.
Back on April 14, WG had used a seventh-inning to edge C-NS 9-8, but the rematch didn’t look promising when the Wildcats fell behind, 2-0, and could not produce anything in the first three innings off Northstars pitcher Gabrielle Corasaniti.
Everything changed, though, when WG got on the board in the fourth. Another run an inning later tied it, 2-2, and even when C-NS reclaimed a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth, the Wildcats responded by stringing together five runs in the bottom of the sixth to go in front for good.
Katie Drogo supplied the biggest blow with a home run on her way to three RBIs. Emily Winton had three hits, including a double, and scored twice, while Amanda Prell added two RBIs and Grace Schnorr got two hits. Deanna Shackleton pitched and never let the Northstars put together a big rally in her complete-game effort.
WG didn’t have a letdown, either, defeating Auburn 6-3 on Thursday afternoon. They traded runs in the first two innings, with the Wildcats going on to notch runs in the next three innings, too, eventually building a 6-2 lead the Maroons could not overcome.
Shackleton fought through 11 Auburn hits and three walks to pitch another complete game. Prell went four-for-four to lead WG’s 13-hit attack as she drove in two runs, while Mya Case had three hits, scored twice and joined Schnorr and Emily Winton in the RBI column.
In Saturday’s non-league game at Fulton, WG broke out the bats and bashed the Red Raiders 15-4, using a four-run second inning to get in front but not putting it away until it had nine total runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Shannon Churchill had three of the Wildcats’ 14 hits, finishing with four RBIs. Elle Lazore tripled and drove in three runs, while Case, Prell (who each had two hits) and Mallory Kovacs had one RBI apiece. Winton contributed a pair of hits as WG earned its playoff-clinching eighth win.
