It made for quite a regular-season climax.
Sporting a 15-3 record, the Skaneateles baseball team welcomed 17-2 Solvay Friday night, the two sides having waited a month for the rematch since the Lakers upended the then-unbeaten Bearcats 8-7 back on April 19.
In a game brimming with league title and Section III Class B playoff seeding implications, and with a large crowd on hand for Senior Day, Skaneateles fought hard – but could not get the big hit it needed in the late going against Bearcats pitching ace Jake Dippold in a 3-0 defeat.
Immediately, Solvay went in front against Lakers pitcher Jim Drancsak, scoring twice in the top of the first inning. With the bases loaded, Brett Peterson singled, scoring Dippold and also Sammy Kippen, who just beat the throw home.
Dippold, who threw a no-hitter at Westhill on April 18 a day before Skaneateles beat Solvay, mowed down the Lakers in the first four innings, only allowing one hit, not getting into trouble until the fifth.
Nevan Rourke, the no. 9 hitter for Skaneateles, reached base on an error. Josh McCabe just missed reaching on a groundout as Rourke moved to second, and then to third on a wild pitch before Mark Pietropaoli got hit.
With two on and two out, and his team still trailing 2-0, Joe Pitman had a chance to turn the game around, and he hit it well – but flew out to center.
Already two-for-two with a walk, Dippold added a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh following Yaizzo’s one-out triple to stretch the margin to three, but Skaneateles would mount one more threat in the bottom of the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Tommy Scherrer drilled a one-out double. After McCabe lined out, Pietropaoli walked on four pitches and Pitman beat out an infield hit to load the bases.
With the tying runs on base, Pete Knupp had a chance to pull his team even with an extra-base hit, or even win it with a home run – but on the first pitch, he flew out, and the Bearcats had escaped.
Going into the game, the Lakers sported a six-game win streak, the sixth of those wins coming last Tuesday, at Marcellus, where Jake Reed’s strong pitching and timely hits in the early and late stages produced a 6-1 victory over the rival Mustangs.
Reed maintained a shutout until the bottom of the seventh, when John Houser’s double brought home Jake Schettine for the Mustangs’ only run. For the afternoon, Reed gave up six hits and two walks, striking out four.
Skaneateles used a run in the first inning and two more in the third to get to Marcellus pitcher Tyler Manthey. Then it tacked on three insurance runs in the seventh as Reed got two hits and earned an RBI, with Pitman doubling and driving in a run. McCabe doubled, walked and scored two runs.
The loss to Solvay may have affected the Lakers’ eventual seeding for the Section III Class B playoffs. Despite its strong 15-4 record, the Lakers only got the no. 7 seed, which has lots of ramifications.
Not only does it make Skaneateles get through a first-round game Tuesday against no. 10 seed Canastota, it means that a victory will send the Lakers to no. 2 seed and defending champion Westhill in Thursday’s quarterfinals – a team Skaneateles couldn’t beat in two regular-season meetings.
Meanwhile, the Skaneateles softball team met Weedsport last Wednesday and took a 10-0 defeat to the Warriors, only managing two hits, one each by Ryley Pascal and Marysa Corona, off pitcher Lauren Spangler, who amassed 10 strikeouts.
Weedsport mostly counted on two hitters to put Skaneateles away. Taylor Hunter accumulated two doubles and a triple and drove in three runs, while Madison Patchin matched that three-RBI output with a double and two singles.
Skaneateles did take an early lead in Thursday’s game at Westhill, but still lost, 16-1, to the Warriors. That 1-0 advantage was gained by Maeve Canty driving home Pascal, but the Warriors dominated from there, led by Tess Hogan (four RBIs) and Katie Lobello (three RBIs) as Bella Lavigne, Dori Klein and Melissa Newcomb had three hits apiece.
