What the Baldwinsville boys golf team hoped for in Wednesday’s Section III Class AA tournament at Radisson Greens was exactly what it accomplished in 2016 – namely, prevailing close to home.
One of the stars of that 2016 team, Max Dec, was still around now, and he did finish on top, but the Bees could not quite match his climb to the top of the standings.
With a team total of 393, B’ville finished third, with West Genesee repeating its sectional team title from a year ago by posting 386 as Fayetteville-Manlius was third with 390.
Given how close competition in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division was all season, a similarly close battle was expected at the sectional tournament.
B’ville arrived with nine golfers, many of whom had played multiple rounds at Radisson. A new tournament format allowed for any of the players to have their score count to the team standings, unlike years past when coaches had to designate five players before they teed off.
Radisson played much longer than its 6,700-yard distance due to heavy rains that fell the day before, though golfers were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls through the greens.
Dec handled these situations better than anyone. Shooting a two-under-par 70, the B’ville senior edged West Genesee’s Nick Bove by one stroke for medalist honors.
What cost the Bees was that just one other golfer – senior Matt Shipman – broke 80, with Shipman posting a 79. Freshman Aidan Farmer was close behind, posting an 80 as junior Tanner Glavin and senior Carter Nichols each finished at 82.
Sophomore Alex Pompo had an 83, with fellow 10th-grader Vic Ianno adding an 84 as junior Anthony Petragnani shot 86 and sophomore Billy Guild posting 89.
Dec, Shipman, Farmer, Glavin and Nichols each advanced to compete in May’s sectional state qualifying tournament at Seven Oaks in Hamilton.
WG finished fourth in the regular-season standings, but just like 2017 it claimed the sectional team title as, behind Bove, Tim Dipaola had a 75, with Peyton Mullane and Joe Artini each shooting 79 and 82s from Kevin McDermott and Lucius Allen.
Finishing second, F-M was led by Adam Butch, who shot 72 to take third place in the individual standings as Velton Perry had a 76. Mike Millimaci had a 78 for the Hornets ahead of Andrew Heyman (80), Matt LaCombe and Sean Arthur (84 each).
Back on Monday, B’ville’s 187-190 defeat to the Warriors at Liverpool Country Club reversed a 20-stroke victory (189-209) the Bees achieved at Timber Banks early in September, but it was more of a reflection of how well Liverpool played than anything the Bees did wrong.
Dec shot 34, which the Warriors’ Spencer Baum matched. Then Shipman posted a 37, with Ianno getting a 39 as Petragnani and Ryan Conley each shot 40, all of them fine scores.
However, the Warriors lined up behind Baum as Dylan Husted put up a season-best 36 to finish third, one ahead of Shipman. Brodie Powers’ 38 put him alone in fifth place as Sam Sgroi got a 39. Pat Langlois shooting a 40 helped Liverpool clinch the victory.
