Continuing to display the fine form it has shown throughout April, East Syracuse Minoa. Who was no. 6 in the first state Class A rankings of the season, went to Homer last Monday afternoon and handled the Trojans 10-2, setting the tone with a five-run first inning and adding single runs in the second and fifth innings before a three-run sixth.
Ryan Seburn nearly hit for the cycle as he homered, doubled, singled and drove in three runs, with Sam Jenkins adding three hits and three RBIs of his own. Jimmy Griffin and James DePaul each got two hits as Griffin and Tim Crouse both got credit for two RBIs.
Staked to that big early lead, Zach Grevelding remained in control, tossing 5 2/3 innings where he struck out five and held Homer to five hits before Ricky Neuser worked the last 1 1/3 innings of relief.
Good as that was, the Spartans got jolted on Thursday at Fulton, falling 4-1 to the Red Raiders, who got tremendous pitching from Will Caster in a six-inning stint where he overcame eight hits and two walks, constantly escaping trouble as he got seven strikeouts.
Despite three hits from Grevelding, and two hits apiece from Jeff Loder and Nolan Penoyer, ESM only scored when Grevelding crossed the plate in the second. Seburn pitched for the Spartans and kept it 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when Fulton struck for three decisive runs. Cole Cotton led the Red Raiders with three hits and an RBI.
Jamesville-DeWitt returned to action last Tuesday and, against the same Fulton team ESM would lose to later in the week, beat the Red Raiders 3-1, requiring a late-game comeback.
A second-inning run had Fulton in front, but the pitching duo of Josh Kowalczyk and Casey Kretsch tossed a shutout the rest of the way, allowing just four hits between them.
Fulton pitcher Bryce Guernsey kept J-D off the board until the bottom of the fifth, when it tied the game before getting the go-ahead runs an inning later. Matt Capelletti and Luke Smith each had two hits, with Smith, Ian Crawford and Scottie O’Bryan driving in those runs. Cappelletti, Mark Toscano and Connor Kinahan scored the runs.
J-D went from there to a 12-2 romp over Homer on Thursday. The Rams trailed 2-0 before tying it up in the third inning and scoring twice more an inning later. Much of the getaway involved late-game production.
All told, J-D got eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings to break a close game open. Crawford hit a solo home run as Smith got two hits, walked three times, scored three runs and got three RBIs. Will Havens, who pitched 4 1/3 innings to earn the win, doubled twice and drove in two runs as Andrew LeClair added a double and two RBIs.
In the rematch with Homer on Friday, J-D scored far fewer runs, but won again, 3-1, as it got terrific pitching from Kowalczyk, who in six innings blanked the Trojans and held them to three hits, amassing five strikeouts.
A pair of first-inning runs, along with a run in the fourth, proved enough for the Rams as Cappelletti, Kretsch (who worked the seventh inning for the save) and Nolan Giblin each got credit for an RBI. Smith, LeClair and Kinahan scored the runs.
