A three-game win streak in the penultimate week of the regular season appeared to have set the Cazenovia baseball team on a promising path just as the Section III Class B playoffs loomed.
All of that changed, though, in a single inning at Phoenix last Monday afternoon, where the Lakers, six outs from making it four wins in a row, instead saw everything go wrong in the bottom of the sixth of a 16-4 defeat.
Twice, Cazenovia had trailed, at 1-0 and 2-1, and twice it had come back, peaking with a three-run fifth inning as Josh Bauder got credit for three RBIs and Evan Begley drove in a run, too. Judson Spaulding scored twice.
Even with Phoenix run in the fifth, the Lakers still led, 4-3, but then came the sixth. Ben Nichols, pitching in relief of Dan Hammond, got knocked out as he, along with Spaulding, Eric Ketcham and Dylan Roy, all fell victim to Phoenix’s bats and struggled with control in an astonishing 13-run rally.
By the time it was all done, six different Firebirds had driven in multiple runs and Cazenovia had issued 13 total walks. Devin Dubovik led Phoenix with three RBIs, while Josh Sutliffe, Alex Sisera, Luke Schlachter, Jon Besaw and James Lynch each drove in two runs.
Two days later, Cazenovia visited defending sectional Class B champion Solvay and took a 4-1 defeat to the Bearcats, who scored all of its runs in the first two innings off Matt Regan as Mike Cimino and Alex Britton had two RBIs apiece.
Matt Regan settled down as he and reliever Burke Regan shut out Solvay from the third inning onward. But Cazenovia managed just three this against Bearcats pitcher Josh Posnick in his 6 1/3 innings of work that included 10 strikeouts, with Roy driving in Evan Begley with the Lakers’ lone run in the fourth.
Even with Senior Day festivities on Friday to add a bit of energy, Cazenovia dropped a 6-2 decision to Bishop Grimes. The Cobras scored twice in the first inning, but the Lakers got even in the bottom of the fourth as Begley and Burke Regan scored runs.
That 2-2 tie didn’t last long, though, as Grimes regained the lead with two runs in the fifth and added a pair of insurance tallies in the top of the seventh. Begley, in relief of starter Burke Regan, took the loss, with Hammond and Anthony Vecchiarelli also seeing relief stints.
Chittenango returned to action last Tuesday and dropped a tight 6-5 decision to the same Bishop Grimes team that beat Cazenovia later in the week.
Then the Bears found out that it had the no. 19 seed in the sectional Class B bracket and, on Monday, would face no. 14 seed Lowville. The winner would get a shot at no. 3 seed Westhill in the next round.
For Cazenovia, the no. 17 seed it drew meant a road trip to no. 16 seed Jordan-Elbridge, and then, if it won there, a battle with top seed Watertown IHC.
