Even with the quality of competition all around them, many have tabbed the Skaneateles baseball team as a serious challenger for OHSL Liberty division and Section III Class B honors this spring.
With a large returning cast, the Lakers hoped to get a good idea about its status by facing defending sectional champion Solvay last Thursday afternoon, but heavy rains forced a postponement until April 26.
A day earlier, though, the weather did hold off and Skaneateles played its season opener against Cazenovia. The Laker duel was, in essence, decided in the first inning as Skaneateles jumped out in front and, thanks to a one-hit gem from Cregg Scherrer, never got caught in a 4-1 victory.
Neither team shined on the defensive side, both of them committing four errors. Yet Skaneateles overcame those mistakes and, more importantly, turned Cazenovia’s flubs into a trio of first-inning runs to erase an early 1-0 deficit caused when Dan Hammond’s single drove home Burke Regan.
All that Cazenovia could manage was that single hit off Scherrer, who surrendered two walks (to Regan and Evan Begley), but amassed 12 strikeouts. Adam Lupo provided the support at the plate with a home run and two RBIs as he scored twice. Matt Neumann added an RBI as Michael Murphy doubled, singled and scored a run.
Two days earlier, the Skaneateles softball team opened its season with a 21-0 defeat to Marcellus that lasted just five innings. Though unable to get on the scoreboard and hurt by committing 10 errors, the Lakers still got hits from Kyra Cottrill and Kathryn Lindgren before it was over.
