Now the Sknaeateles baseball team understands that getting to the top in the OHSL Liberty division means one thing – beating Westhill.
Fortunately, in Cregg Scherrer, the Lakers have a pitcher unafraid of having to deal with the Warriors, as he showed in a mound masterpiece last Thursday afternoon, Scherrer shutting things down in a 5-0 victory that put an end to Westhill’s eight-game win streak.
The combination of a wet day and Scherrer’s pitching made it miserable for Warriors batters as they got just one hit – a single from E.J. Zawadzki – off Scherrer, who allowed three walks but amassed 11 strikeouts.
John Geer, Westhill’s ace for most of this season, was not as fortunate as Skaneateles got to him for for single runs in the first and third innings and three runs in the fifth. Josh McCabe, with a single, triple, walk and three runs scored, sparked Skaneateles as Jake Reed got two RBIs, with Scherrer and Michael Murphy also driving in runs.
Before this, Skaneateles had shut out Phoenix 12-0 on Wednesday, getting a good start with three runs in the bottom of the first, but not getting away until the fifth inning, when it erupted for eight runs and batted around.,
Tommy Scherrer pitched five innings and surrendered just one hit while striking out five before Kenny Peterson worked two innings of relief. Four different Lakers – Peterson, Cregg Scherrer, Michael Murphy and Jacob Nesbitt – had two hits apiece.
Kyler Viggiano, in his three trips to the plate, earned three RBIs as Tommy Scherrer and Nate Main drove in two runs apiece. Adam Lupo and Tommy Reed each scored twice, as did Murphy and Cregg Scherrer, whose bigger moment would come a day later.
When it returned to action last Wednesday afternoon, the Skaneateles softball team suffered a 7-0 defeat to defending Section III Class b champion Altmar-Parish-Williamstown as Rebels pitcher Helaina Hale threw a no-hitter. Though surrendering one walk to Hannah Stone, Hale retired everyone else she faced and earned 10 strikeouts.
APW got to Lakers pitcher Hannah Blowers for two runs in the first inning and five more in the fifth and sixth innings, all of this on just four hits as Skaneateles hurt itself with eight errors. McKenzie Mattison led the Rebels with two hits and three runs scored.
In Thursday’s game at Westhill, the Lakers did get on the board with a run in the fourth inning, but only managed three hits overall as the Warriors, accumulating 15 hits, won 16-1 in a game shortened to five innings by the mercy rule.
