When it took a 5-4, eight-inning defeat at Liverpool on April 25, the Baldwinsville baseball team suffered its first blemish of 2019, but it didn’t take long to face another extra-inning test.
In the first game of its subsequent series against Fayetteville-Manlius last Monday night, the Bees had to come back to take the Hornets to eight innings, but pulled out a 4-3 decision.
Jake Marshall saw the 1-0 lead he inherited vanish when F-M scored three times in the bottom of the first inning, two of them on Sean Arthur’s single.
Marshall lasted until the fourth, when Chris AuClair relieved him. By then, it was tied, 3-3, helped by Nate Ray’s two hits and two RBIs, and it would stay that way the rest of regulation as the Hornets had John Egnaczyk take over in relief after Tom Coleman started.
Still even in the top of the eighth, B’ville got Mike Carni to third base, and then Carni raced home when Egnaczyk uncorked a wild pitch.
Then AuClair earned the final three outs, having gone 4 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Marshall struck out five as he and AuClair combined to limit F-M to four hits.
All of this set up last Wednesday night’s second game of the series on the turf at Onondaga Community College, part of the Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic.
This held a particular meaning for B’ville’s school community since Ray Middle School teacher Mike Pauldine is battling Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
In an emotional pregame ceremony, Pauldine, in a wheelchair, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, to the applause of both teams and a large group of Ray Middle teachers who were present at the game.
Next to all that, the contest itself did not quite have the same meaning, but it was still Savacool’s turn in the rotation, and unlike with Liverpool, he had little trouble getting the win as the Bees beat the Hornets 12-2.
Over the first four innings, B’ville accumulated a 12-0 advantage. Carni doubled twice, driving in two runs as Marshall, Ray and Pat May matched that two-RBI output. Pat Anson and Lucas Robinson also drove in runs.
Savacool did not need that much run support, but the big lead allowed him to exit after just five innings, having only allowed one hit while striking out 10. Mike Carr worked two innings in relief.
Rain that fell overnight and lingered into Thursday morning postponed the third B’ville-F-M game, and the Bees got ready for this week’s series with West Genesee, the first time these two had met since last May’s extra-inning Section III Class AA final.
