Once again, a group of area high school baseball teams spent their April school breaks far from Central New York, most of them going to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for various tournaments.
Westhill and Jordan-Elbridge got to face each other last Monday in OHSL Liberty division action, with the Warriors having little trouble defeating the Eagles 17-6.
Building a 14- 0 lead by the fourth inning, Westhill saw Nate King earn four RBIs, with Nick Bistrovich driving in three runs. Philip Zollo had three hits and three runs scored as Brandon Amidon-Crawford drove in two runs.
Bistrovich also pitched four innings before Jack Knapp took over in relief. J-E did have a five-run fifth inning as Sean Dristle scored twice, joining Carson Ashby, Jordan Osborn and Nate Melfi in the RBI column.
J-E followed with a 17-4 defeat to Atlantic Shores Christian, but Westhill lost, too, falling 7-5 to Martinsburg (West Virginia) as it allowed all of Martinsburg’s runs in the first two innings.
Down 7-1, Westhill nearly made it back, scoring once in the fourth and three times in the fifth, but the rally fell short. Ryan Bennett got two hits, joining Zollo, Bistrovich and David McPeak in the RBI column. King pitched and took the loss.
Then Westhill lost, 6-2, to Atlantic Shores, blanked after Zollo and and Ryan Bennett got first-inning runs, while J-E could not get on the board in a 15-0 defeat to Martinsburg. Then the Warriors lost, 5-0, to William Byrd (Virginia).
Skaneateles also made the trip south, and in last Monday’s game routed Washington High 18-2 in five innings, highlighted by a second inning where it batted around and scored eight times.
Cregg Scherrer, Jimmy Liberatore and Luke Viggiano each had two hits, Scherrer and Jack Whirtley scoring three runs apiece. Jack Canty, Jack Carlisle and Emil Sander joined Liberatore and Viggiano with two RBIs.
More runs followed in Tuesday’s 14-1 win over Newark (Section V), giving Scherrer plenty of run protection as he struck out 10 and only allowed one hit in five innings on the mound.
Viggiano went three-for-three, scoring three runs, while Liberatore had two hits, two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs. Carlisle and Alex Ruffo also drove in two runs.
On Wednesday, Skaneateles lost, 5-4, to Landstown (Virginia), a game that got away when the Lakers, up 4-1, gave up four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Prior to that, Tommy Reed had delivered 5 1/3 innings, limiting Landstown to two hits. Scherrer notched three hits at the plate as Reed, Viggiano and Liberatore had two hits apiece
Finishing 3-1 on the trip, Skaneateles defeated Tallwood (Virginia) 9-6, pulling out the victory with a four-run seventh inning and helped by home runs from Scherrer and Tom Cowden.
Scherrer also doubled and got three RBIs as Viggiano produced three hits. Liberatore had two hits and two RBIs as Whirtley also got two hits. Canty pitched four innings before Carlisle worked the last three innings in relief.
West Genesee was one team that did not travel, instead hosting Auburn last Tuesday and relying on a big second inning at the plate to push past the Maroons 8-1.
Auburn had gone up 1-0 in the first inning, but in the bottom of the second the state Class AA no. 18-ranked Wildcats batted around and finished with six runs. Dan Davis doubled and finished with three RBIs, with Nick Chemotti, Joe Comins, Luis Suarez and Brad May also driving in runs.
Ryan Paige blanked the Maroons after that first-inning tally, eventually going 4 2/3 innings as he limited Auburn to four hits. Comins, Sam Gallager and Mike Hebbard all pitched well in relief.
Then WG shut out Syracuse 3-0 on Wednesday, with Jack Gordon showing the stuff of an ace. Gordon tossed a one-hitter, walking three but striking out 12 Syracuse batters.
Though it only had three hits of its own, the Wildcats scored twice in the third inning and again two innings later, Comins getting two RBIs. Chemotti, May and Chris Bonacci each scored a run.
