The timing wasn’t great for the undefeated Solvay baseball team when it met undefeated Vernon-Verona-Sherrill last Saturday night at Onondaga Community College’s turf field.
It was the Bearcats’ fifth game of the week and second that day following a 13-12 win over Bishop Ludden, and with the intention of saving ace Jake Dippold for Monday’s showdown with Westhill, Solvay was running low on available pitchers,
This manifested itself in a 19-4 defeat to VVS, the game kept close until the Red Devils, up 4-3, broke things open with four runs in the fifth inning and then piled up11 runs in the top of the sixth.
This was the tail end of a doubleheader at OCC that began with West Genesee taking 11 innings to beat Christian Brothers Academy 4-3. That it went that long was because the Wildcats, up 3-1, could not hold on to that lead as the Brothers scored twice in the top of the seventh after starter Marshall Winn, who struck out six and only allowed three hits, was removed.
Three scoreless extra innings followed, with WG reliever James Randall taking over in the ninth. Randall kept it at 3-3, and then, in the bottom of the 11th, Dan Purcell’s two-out single scored Tyler Gould to end it. Winn and Liam Barry each had two hits, with Gould and Winn driving in runs.
Solvay had started the week by handling Central Valley Academy 11-5 last Monday afternoon. The Bearcats trailed, 3-0, through one inning, but tied it with three runs in the second and then took charge with a five-run fourth inning before getting three more runs in the fifth, aided by the Thunder committing six errors. Josh Posnick only allowed three hits and struck out seven to earn the win.
Then came a 6-5 win over Pulaski where Solvay steadily built a 6-1 lead through five innings and still had that margin in the top of the seventh when the Blue Devils exploded for four runs.
Dippold, having his roughest start of the season, did manage to get the final out to improve to 3-0 as he struck out 10, but gave up nine hits. He also drove in two runs as Mike Cimino homered and matched that two-RBI effort. Connor Lee and Joey Guadagnolo had one RBI apiece as Jordan Goldman contributed a team-best three hits.
Not wanting any kind of drama in Thursday’s game against Chittenango, the Bearcats jumped all over the Bears in an 8-2 victory, scoring four runs in the first inning and two more in the second, which proved more than enough.
Mason Sands pitched quite well, holding Chittenango to three hits in six innings of work. Dippold smashed a home run as he and Nate Kosecki earned two RBIs apiece and Guadagnolo topped them both, driving in three runs.
Before the long battle with CBA, West Genesee went to Auburn last Monday and, with one big rally, beating the Maroons 8-1 at Falcon Park.
Through five innings, the Wildcats trailed 1-0, having given up a first-inning run due to a pair of errors. From there, though, WG settled down and, while waiting for its bats to come to life against Auburn pitcher James Roeschlaub, kept the margin slim.
It turned in the bottom of the fifth. Auburn loaded the bases, but could not convert, and with newfound momentum the Wildcats broke out in the top of the sixth inning, getting a pair of two-run singles and scoring four other runs aided by three Maroons errors and three walks.
Good as that was, WG saw things go the other way in Wednesday’s 9-2 defeat to Rome Free Academy. The Wildcats didn’t score until the sixth inning on Liam Barry’s two-run single, when it got overshadowed by the Black Knights pouring in seven runs. Kevin Donohue took the loss in relief of Barry, who pitched four innings.
During its annual tournament appearance in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Westhill entered the week undefeated, but took its first blemish last Tuesday in a 7-4 loss to Spring Mills (West Virginia), who used two-run rallies in the first and second innings to get out in front, but needed three runs in the fifth after the Warriors had closed the gap to 4-3.
Hurting itself with four errors, Westhill only managed five hits, one each by C.J. Walsh, Andrew O’Connor, Luke Bennett, Ben Mrozek and Philip Zollo. Walsh, O’Connor, Mrozek and E.J. Zawadzki all got credit for RBIs.
Quickly, Westhill turned it around against another West Virginia school, East Fairmont, prevailing 7-1 on Wednesday as Tom Cunningham tossed a complete game, giving up just three hits and one walk while accumulating 10 strikeouts.
Three first-inning runs set a winning tone as the Warriors saw Walsh double and earn a pair of RBIs while scoring twice. Corey Frassica also had two hits as Zollo, Bennett and Jordan Marcano got one RBI apiece.
Westhill won again on Thursday, 11-1, over Newark, from Section V, a game shortened to five innings. A seven-run outburst in the fourth inning broke it open as Zollo and Marcano each drove in two runs, with John Geer getting a single, double and RBI. Walsh, Zawadzki and Brian Coman also drove in runs as Ben Coates pitched and got the win.
And the trip closed with Westhill getting a 13-9 victory over Penn Yan, a wild affair where the Warriors blew an 8-0 lead when the Mustangs scored two runs in the fifth inning and seven runs in the sixth.
But with five runs in the top of the seventh, Westhill went ahead for good, with Frassica getting three hits as he and Walsh each drove in two runs. Marcano singled, walked twice and scored three times as he, along with Zawadzki and Dante Furco earned one RBI apiece.
Jordan-Elbridge, playing in the same division as Westhill at Myrtle Beach, lost 6-1, to Spring Mills on Wednesday, scoring its lone run in the third inning, and then had an 8-1 defeat to Johnsonville (South Carolina) on Thursday afternoon.
