All season long, the Baldwinsville baseball team found itself chasing the likes of West Genesee and Liverpool.
So it only figured that, in order to earn a shot at the Section III Class AA championship, the Bees would need to get past both the Wildcats and Warriors in consecutive playoff rounds, each of them away from home.
First, B’ville, the no. 5 seed, made its way to Camillus, where no. 4 seed West Genesee awaited in Thursday’s sectional quarterfinals.
The Wildcats had late-season momentum and the confidence gained from reaching the sectional finals a year ago – but it didn’t have Cody Kaestle, and that made the difference for B’ville as it knocked out the Wildcats 2-1.
In their three-game series on May 10-12, WG took two of three from B’ville, with the lone Bees victory a 6-5 decision where Kaestle had pitched five innings, but had given up six hits and four walks. He was far more effective the second time around.
Initially, Kaestle caused some concern when he surrendered a first-inning run. From there, though, he was superb, limiting WG to a total of five hits and cutting his walks in half, to two, while recording five strikeouts.
Both of B’ville’s runs came in the top of the second inning, where hits by Zach Bush and Tom McKee allowed Cam Williams and Jarrod Williams to cross the plate. Bush and Cam Williams together accounted for four of the Bees’ six hits.
And now it was on to Sunday’s AA semifinal at Onondaga Community College, where top seed Liverpool was waiting for the Bees after it knocked out Central Square 11-5 in its quarterfinal.
The difference here is that B’ville had won two of three games from the Warriors in their May 3-5 series, even though it will have to rely on a pitcher other than Kaestle to get to the title game.
