The Marcellus baseball team did not start its week well, nor did it end well – but in between, some good things happened.
It all commenced with the Mustangs falling 14-3 to rival Skaneateles last Monday afternoon in a game where an early 1-0 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. Neither of the two pitchers, Jake Schettine and John Houser, was helped by a Marcellus defense that made 11 errors.
Thus, the Lakers could win by a big margin despite just seven hits to the Mustangs’ six. Chris Torell led Marcellus with two hits, scoring a run as Houser and Mike Kent had one RBI apiece. For Skaneateles, Noah Cliff tripled and drove in four runs.
Everything got simplified for Marcellus in a 1-0 shutout over Bishop Grimes where Tyler Manthey threw a complete-game three-hitter, striking out four and giving up three hits. Though the Mustangs got just two hits off Cobras pitcher Chris Mancuso (who threw a no-hitter at Hannibal earlier this season), it gave up the game’s lone run in the fourth inning as Torell scored on Schettine’s single.
Turning around to face Bishop Ludden on Wednesday, the Mustangs won another close decision, prevailing 3-2 as it scored twice in the second inning and, after the Gaelic Knights tied it 2-2 in the top of the third on Ed Walser’s single, reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the third.
Having seen Aaron Smith, Mike Kent and Brett Weiler drive in those runs, Torell protected that edge, blanking Ludden the rest of the way as he gave up four hits and four walks, but earned seven strikeouts. Ian Quinn took the loss for the Gaelic Knights, also pitching a complete game.
Nothing was close, though, about the Mustangs’ 15-1 defeat in a rematch with Bishop Grimes on Thursday. Surrendering 19 hits, Marcellus only got on the board in the sixth inning when Ethan Molinari drove home John Houser, but otherwise it was Cobras, who saw Matt Tarby, Trevor Pokines, Shawn Gashi and David Cifonelli each collect three hits and score 10 of Grimes’ 15 runs.
Marcellus would also take a 6-2 defeat to East Syracuse Minoa on Saturday afternoon, the Spartans striking for three runs in the first and fifth innings. Ben McFall pitched and went six innings, striking out five as Houser and Sam Grattan drove in the team’s runs, scored by Smith and Matt Spicer.
Ludden had lost, 14-8, to Grimes at the start of the week, leading 5-4 through four innings before the Cobras scored twice in the fifth and then added four runs in each of the next two frames to get away.
Matt McGinn and Robert Ruley each got three hits for the Gaelic Knights, with Jason Hoffman producing three RBIs. McGinn drove in two runs as Ruley, E.J. Zawadzki and Ian Quinn earned one RBI apiece. Chris Mancuso and Trevor Pokines each had three RBIs on Grimes’ side.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 4-0 defeat to Skaneateles, with George Richardson notching the Eagles’ lone hit off Lakers pitcher Jim Drancsak. All of the Skaneateles runs came in the bottom of the second, where Cregg Scherrer’s single produced a pair of RBIs and Noah Cliff also drove in a run.
It proved much closer on Wednesday, but J-D lost again, 6-5, to Hannibal, and what made it worse was that the Eagles, mostly thanks to a three-run third inning, had rallied from a 2-1 deficit and led, 5-2, going to the bottom of the sixth. Zach Pangaro had two hits, with Dan Kuehnle scoring twice and Jordan Osborn adding an RBI.
None of this held up, though. Hannibal chased Richardson in the sixth inning and cut its deficit to 5-4 before completing the comeback with the tying and winning runs in the seventh inning. Mike Chillson (three hits) and Jon Combes (two RBIs) led that push.
Then Ludden took its turn against Skaneateles and lost another close one, 3-2, scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh on hits from Kevin Hawk and Matt Hosek to nearly erase a 3-0 deficit before Cregg Scherrer got the final out. Combined, the pitching trio of Hawk, Austin Hoyt and Dan McGarvey gave up eight hits between them.
