Clearly in the mix for league and sectional honors, the Christian Brothers Academy baseball team charged into the regular-season homestretch following some spectacular efforts last week.
And none was as great as what pitching ace Mike McCully pulled off in last Thursday’s 10-0 win over Chittenango. Over six innings, McCully retired all 18 batters he faced to earn a perfect game, 11 of them through strikeouts.
Also, the CBA bats were alive, getting at least one run in each inning. Luke Frontale and Sean Miller led with two RBIs apiece, while Jake Maser scored twice. Ryan O’Connor, Carmen Spinoso, Jason Boule and Bryce Moore each drove in one run.
CBA had little trouble in last Monday’s game at Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, taking charge with four-run rallies in the third and fifth innings on the way to defeating the Rebels 9-2.
Spinoso and O’Connor got two hits apiece, with Frontale getting a pair of RBIs. Boule walked twice and drove in a run as Tommy Marzullo also got an RBI. Derek Jann struck out five in 3 2/3 innings on the mound as McCully held APW without a hit in his 2 1/3 inning stint, getting five strikeouts.
Two days later, at Marcellus, CBA made its biggest rally of the season, erasing a six-run deficit and, in the seventh inning, pulling out a 12-10 victory over the Mustangs.
Marcellus struck for six runs in the bottom of the third, but even though it tacked on more runs, CBA began to fight back, scoring three times in the third and fourth innings and twice in the fifth.
Then, trailing 10-8 in the top of the seventh, the Brothers scored four times and finally got the lead, Bryce Moore leading the charge as he hit a home run and earned five RBIs.
Marzullo and Maser both went four-for-five and scored three runs, with Boule adding a pair of RBIs. McCully, tossed a scoreless seventh inning of relief after M.P. Geiss went four innings in relief of David Gross.
McCully’s perfect game was followed by Friday’s 10-5 win over Mexico, with three-run rallies in the second and third innings putting the Brothers in front as Moore, Frontale and Kent Wilson had two hits apiece. Maser threw four scoreless innings and struck out nine.
A 5-0 week for CBA concluded Saturday with an 11-9 win over Utica Proctor, one where the Brothers were up 10-3 but nearly got caught when the Raiders erupted for six runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Yet the Brothers used single runs in the sixth and seventh to hang on, Boule going four-for-four with three runs scored and two RBIs as Joe Perla also drove in two runs. Leo Genocco was three-for-three as Frontale and Maser each scored twice.
Fayetteville-Manlius got a 2-0 win over Syracuse last Wednesday and a pitching gem from Tom Coleman, who in seven innings allowed just three hits and got solid defense behind him as he only managed three strikeouts.
Single runs in the fifth and sixth innings proved enough for the Hornets as Sean Arthur doubled twice and got an RBI. Seth Reisman had two hits and scored a run as Max Parker also had an RBI.
Three days later, F-M lost, 7-1, to Baldwinsville, held to one hit by Bees ace Jason Savocool, who struck out 13. Isaac Blanford had that lone hit and scored in the third inning, but only after giving five runs in the first, more than he or reliever Max Parker could overcome.
The busy first weekend of May for Bishop Grimes had included a 6-1 victory over Bishop Ludden right before a 7-1 defeat to Solvay, which left the Cobras’ record at 4-8 overall.
Against Solvay, Matt Vonden Steinen drove home Joe Wike in the top of the third, cutting the Bearcats’ lead to 2-1, but the Cobras surrendered five runs in the bottom of the fourth as Joe Uygun took the loss, with Seth Murphy pitching 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
A wild contest with Hannibal followed last Tuesday afternoon, with Grimes getting enough runs to push past the Warriors 16-13 as it overcame an early 4-3 deficit with six runs in the second and five runs in the fifth.
Five different Cobras – Wike, Vonden Steinen, Skyler Gashi, Jordan Newman and Zen Lapointe – got credit for two RBIs, with Wike scoring three runs. Trevor Sikorski added two hits as Dalton Damuth and Tyler Wait also drove in runs.
Grimes then put away Mexico 14-1 on Thursday in large part due to a fifth inning where it piled up 10 runs, helped throughout the day by the nine errors the Tigers committed.
Still, Gashi had two hits and two RBIs, with Dalton Damuth also driving in a pair of runs. Vonden Steinen, Newman, Lapointe and Ben Rivette had one RBI apiece.
Making it three wins in a row on Saturday, Grimes defeated Marcellus 8-5, improving its league record to 7-3 (7-8 overall) as it will face CBA late this week after taking on Chittenango.
