It’s difficult to tell if Fayetteville-Manlius or Baldwinsville would take the upper hand to this week’s Section III Class AA championship tournament, because when a furious batch of league matches concluded, neither held the CNY Counties League regular-season title to themselves.
On the one hand, the Hornets own the most recent head-to-head victory, a tough 197-200 decision last Monday at Woodcrest Golf Club. On the other hand, the sectional tournament is taking place at Radisson Greens, a course many of the Bees use on a regular basis since it’s in their home area.
But it was at nearby Timber Banks that B’ville won over F-M 195-203 on Sept. 1. The Hornets had not lost since, and the Bees, due to an early-season defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse Blue, arrived at Woodcrest with the same 8-1 mark as F-M did, making this a potential regular-season league championship showdown.
And it did not disappoint. Despite windy conditions, F-M’s Kyle Gilroy nearly matched par and, with a nine-hole score of 37, tied B’ville’s Ryan Fecco for top individual honors. Jason Coleman was third with a 38, while John Cacchio’s 39 matched that of the Bees’ Tim Garraffo.
With Matt Shipman netting a 40 and two other B’ville golfers, Maxwell Dec and Carson Hayes, finishing at 42, F-M needed a combined 85 total from its fourth and fifth finishers. It did three better, with Tim Zapisek landing a 40 and Colin Sommers notching a 43 to clinch the victory.
Despite all this, F-M still needed to beat Cicero-North Syracuse Blue on Wednesday at Northern Pines to stay alone in first place – and could not do it, undone by a spirited team effort by the Northstars in a 192-197 defeat.
The Hornets had routed C-NS Blue 184-205 when they had first met Sept. 6 at Woodcrest. Back on its home ground, though, the Northstars turned things around by posting five rounds under 40, as opposed to F-M’s two.
Chris Ranalli, with a nine-hole score of 37, tied Cacchio for top individual honors. Then Nick Ernstine shot a 38 to equal Coleman before the Northstars won it with a trio of 39s earned by Logen Field, Justin Pellegrino and Andrew Brunozzi, all of them ahead of Sommers (40), Adam Butch and Nick Perry (41 each).
Two days later, with the league title still in doubt, F-M had to beat West Genesee since Baldwinsville was in the process of defeating Liverpool. Living up to the pressure, the Hornets beat the Wildcats 187-195 at Woodcrest,
Sommers shot a 36, one shot behind WG’s Dylan Plis, but F-M took the lead when Coleman and Perry both shot 37 and Zapisek’s 38 matched the Wildcats’ Joe Morgan, and clinched it when Cacchio and Will Franey both shot 39 ahead of WG golfers Nick Bove, Jack Corcoran (40 each) and Mike DiPaola (41).
This meant the regular-season honors were shared by F-M and B’ville, and the sectional tournament was a possible tie-breaker, though C-NS Blue and West Genesee could easily swoop in and take the tournament, too.
Elsewhere, Christian Brothers Academy, coming off a big Sept. 23 win over Skaneateles, crashed a bit in last Monday’s 219-242 defeat to Fulton at Battle Island.
Though Mike Santoro’s 39 led all individuals, the Brothers had no other round better than Jack Lester’s 43, with Chris Bushnell adding a 48 and no one else lower than 50 as Jack MacLachlan settled for a 51.
Meanwhile, the Red Raiders had all five of its top individuals shoot 48 or lower, led by Nate Shatrau (40), Hunter Hubel and Brian Trombly (42 each), with Nick Kinney adding a 47 and Nolan Johnson a 48, a full 13 shots ahead of CBA’s fifth scorer, John Liptak.
Jamesville-DeWitt commenced its last week of the regular season by beating East Syracuse Minoa Orange 215-236 at Drumlins, with Mac Mott matching par to lead the Red Rams with a 35 as Abel Ratanaphan added a 38.
Nate Powell gave ESM Orange a 45, with Ryan Walsh adding a 47 and 51s from Joe Pacheco and Alex Leo. But J-D stayed out in front thanks to Peter Miedaner’s 46, just ahead of a 47 from Tom Cramer and a 49 from Eric Antosh. Tyler Brang shot a 53.
On Thursday, J-D won again, claiming a tough 216-220 decision over Homer at Cortland Country Club as Mott again led his side, posting a 36 to hold off the Trojans’ Brent McNeil (37) for individual honors.
With every shot important, Abel Ratanaphan earned a 41 to match Homer’s Noah Goddard, but it took the other Rams to make the difference as Jack Mulvihill (45), Will Havens (46) and Alvin Ratanaphan (49) were just ahead of Trojans counterparts Ethan Stiles (45), Mike Turck (47) and Louis Nardis (50).
ESM Orange fell to Fulton 230-242 on Wednesday at the Links at Erie Village. Pacheco shot a 42, topped only by Hubel, but Trombly (42) and Shatrau (44) helped the Red Raiders get away as Nate Powell shot a 48, with Alex Leo getting a 50 and Walsh earning a 53.
A 220-231 defeat to Homer followed on Friday at Erie Village, where Walsh led all individuals with 40, one ahead of Turck for the Trojans. Pacheco had a 41, but five other Homer golfers, led by McNeil (43), finished ahead of Powell and his 47.
