Sometimes a perfect effort isn’t needed in baseball – just an opportunistic one.
And the Skaneateles Lakers got a week’s worth of opportunities during last Monday’s home clash with archrival Marcellus, earning just seven hits, yet still going well into double digits during a 14-3 victory over the Mustangs.
An early 1-0 Marcellus lead vanished thanks to the Lakers’ four runs in the bottom of the second. Still, the Mustangs kept thing close until Skaneateles scored eight times in the bottom of the sixth.
A great deal of these runs resulted from a porous Marcellus defense that committed 11 errors by game’s end. Thus, the Lakers could win by a big margin despite just seven hits to the Mustangs’ six.
Noah Cliff tripled and drove in four runs, the only Laker with more than one RBI. Nevan Rourke, Kyler Viggiano, Josh McCabe and Joe Pitman drove in one run apiece, Viggiano scoring three times as Cliff, Jim Drancsak and Pete Knupp each scored twice.
Knupp started on the mound, going six innings and overcoming six hits and four walks to keep Marcellus in check before the cushion allowed Adam Lupo to work the seventh inning.
Still at home Tuesday to face Jordan-Elbridge, the Lakers got a gem from Drancsak and Jake Reed, who combined to pitch a one-hitter in a 4-0 shutout of the Eagles.
All that Drancsak surrendered was a single by George Richardson in his five innings of work, which included four strikeouts. Reed went the rest of the way, having seen the Lakers score all of its runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, two of them on Cregg Scherrer’s single as Cliff added an RBI. Drancsak, McCabe, Matt Neumann and Adam Lupo scored the runs.
Skaneateles beat Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 9-3 on Wednesday, but it didn’t prove that easy. The Rebels erased the Lakers’ early 1-0 lead and took a 3-1 advantage into the bottom of the fifth inning.
That’s when Skaneateles broke through against APW pitcher Justin Bristol, scoring five runs to pull in front and adding three runs an inning later. Jake Reed and Cregg Scherrer led the comeback, each driving in two runs, while McCabe and Viggiano each got one RBI and Marc Pietropaoli scored twice. Lupo logged two solid innings of relief after Craig Scherrer amassed nine strikeouts in his five-inning stint.
In Thursday’s trip to Bishop Ludden, Skaneateles saw Tommy Scherrer nearly get a shutout before holding on to beat the Gaelic Knights 3-2 and completing a perfect 4-0run through this four-day stretch.
Single runs in the first, third and fourth innings gave the Lakers a 3-0 lead. McCabe went three-for-four, scoring twice, while Viggiano also got three hits. Reed added two hits as he and Scherrer both drove in runs.
Meanwhile, Scherrer was tossing a shutout when, in the bottom of the seventh, Ludden made its charge. Run-scoring hits by Matt Hosek and Kevin Hawk threatened to undo everything, but Scherrer, who finished with seven strikeouts and allowed just five hits, recorded the final out.
Having improved to 14-3 overall, the last week of the Lakers’ regular season includes a return engagement with Marcellus and, of far greater importance, a rematch with Solvay on Friday afternoon just two days before the Section III Class B playoff pairings are announced.
