A single swing, in the first inning, is not supposed to decide most baseball games.
Yet Jordan Marcano’s two-run home run in the bottom of the first of last Monday’s showdown between Westhill and Solvay did prove symbolic and decisive, propelling the Warriors to an 8-1 victory over the Bearcats.
Every Westhill player remembered that Solvay had beat them three times in 2016, including the Section III Class B final. Now, against the Bearcats’ left-handed ace, Jake Dippold, the Warriors relished an opportunity to restore its place atop the league and sectional ranks that it held for so long.
Solvay, meanwhile, was coming off an April 22 defeat to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, and expected Dippold to find his usual form on the mound, especially after he gave himself a 1-0 lead to work with in the top of the first inning with an RBI double that scored Jordan Goldman after he walked.
Instead, with one on in the bottom of the first, Marcano slipped a drive over the left-field fence, giving his team a 2-1 lead and, more importantly, energizing Westhill with the knowledge that the Solvay ace was vulnerable.
Another run followed in the third inning, and Westhill got to Dippold for five runs in the bottom of the fourth, two of them driven home by Marcano’s single. Dante Furco and Tom Cunningham also got credit for RBIs.
Given this big cushion, Warriors pitcher John Geer maintained it by holding Solvay hitless after Dippold’s double, overcoming five walks with five strikeouts before Cunningham worked the seventh inning.
The game seemed to have a lingering effect, too, for on Wednesday Solvay lost again, 8-2, to Skaneateles, not getting on the board until the sixth inning on Alex Britton’s two-run double.
By then, though, the Lakers already had a 6-0 lead, having lit up Bearcats starter Josh Posnick as brothers Tommy and Cregg Scherrer each got three RBIs. Cregg Scherrer also pitched 5 2/3 innings, holding Solvay to two hits while striking out nine.
Westhill, meanwhile, was routing Hannibal 23-2, and then returned home Thursday to face Marcellus, It wasn’t easy, but thanks to strong pitching from left-hander Ben Coates, the Warriors shut out the Mustangs 3-0.
Coates gave up five hits – two by Sam Grattan, one each by Aiden Shea, John Hauser and Ethan Molinari. Each time, though, Coates was able to pitch his way out of trouble, eventually getting a complete-game shutout that included six strikeouts and a single walk allowed.
Houser pitched well, too, in his five-inning stint for Marcellus. Other than a two-run second inning and a single run in the fifth, Westhill was shut down, though Coates did help his own cause with an RBI as Marcano and E.J. Zawadzki also drove in runs.
To end this great week, Westhill went to NBT Bank Stadium Friday night and, taking part in the annual “Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease” Tournament, earned a 5-1 victory over the New Hartford Spartans on the basis of a four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Geer, on three days’ rest, lasted five innings, overcoming seven hits and two walks to strike out four before Cunningham worked the last two innings in relief. New Hartford pitcher Josh Lafave only allowed a third-inning run that the Spartans matched an inning later, but the Warriors lit up reliever Nic Roman in the sixth as Marcano, Furco and C.J. Walsh each had an RBI.
Meanwhile, Solvay ended its three-game skid by beating Jordan-Elbridge 9-4. The frustration of a week’s worth of struggles poured out in a five-run first inning as the Bearcats saw that lead shrink to 5-3, but then regained control in the game’s latter stages.
Mason Sands pitched six solid innings for Solvay, limiting the Eagles to six hits. Meanwhile, Goldman homered, while Dippold doubled and tripled as they both finished with two RBIs. Mike Cimino, Zach Chrysler, Owen Lansing and Zac Mashaw also drove in runs. Zach Fabrized led J-E with a double and two RBIs.
