Having split their two head-to-head meetings at the end of April, the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa baseball teams continued to go through volatile extremes in the first full week of May.
Nothing symbolized this more than a doubleheader the Spartans played last Monday against Cortland, where it won the first game 16-2, only to get beat by the Purple Tigers 21-1 in the second game.
Already with a 6-2 lead in the opener, ESM broke out for nine runs in the top of the fourth as it picked up 14 hits and took advantage of seven Cortland errors to help pitcher Dan Garris, who struck out 10 and only allowed one walk.
Nolan Penoyer and Lucas Grabowski each had three hits, with Penoyer, Justin Kingsley, Josh Gilkey and Jacob Buell getting two RBIs apiece. Ben Leib, Spencer Carnival and Brendan Seburn also drove in runs.
All of this contrasted the second game, where ESM allowed 16 hits and committed 10 errors. Cortland scored in every inning except the first, led by Jake Prunier’s triple and four RBIs as Gilkey scored the Spartans’ lone run in the fourth.
J-D, meanwhile, had no problem in its first game against Oswego, blanking the Buccaneers 11-0 as it used four-run rallies in each of the first two innings to seize immediate control.
Murphy Foss led the way, his pair of hits leading to four RBIs. Zach Goodson, Matt Alexander and Bailey Doust had two hits apiece, Alexander driving in two runs as Nolan Giblin and Mateo Santos had one RBI apiece.
That big early lead meant that Nick Brotzki didn’t have to pitch too long, only going four innings and limiting Oswego to three hits as Shane Wright worked the remaining three innings in relief to complete the shutout.
Still at no. 15 in the state Class A rankings despite those recent defeats, J-D went to Oswego on Wednesday and completed the sweep of the Bucs, though it was much closer as the Rams won 5-3.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the fourth, J-D took the lead by scoring twice off Oswego pitcher Tim Kirwan, but would still need a pair of seventh-inning runs for its final margin.
Giblin went three-for-four, scoring a run, while Murphy Foss had two RBIs. Alexander and Bobby Galusha also drove in runs as A.J. Ortega pitched 6 1/3 innings, striking out nine and limiting the Bucs to five hits, before Cater Kowalczyk got the last two outs for the save.
Getting its third win in a row on Thursday, J-D toppled Fulton 6-1, using a five-run third inning to take charge.
Foss went 5 1/3 innings on the mound and held the Red Raiders to four hits, Kowalczyk again closing it out. Not only did he pitch well, but Foss drove in two runs and finished with three hits. Wright added two hits and drove in two runs, while Brotzki got two hits and an RBI.
That same day, ESM suffered a 14-5 defeat to Syracuse, who erased an early 2-0 Spartans lead with six runs in the bottom of the first and never trailed again.
Buell did get a home run for ESM and earned a pair of RBIs, while Gilkey had two hits as he and Leib both drove in single runs. Josh Williams (home run, three RBIs) and Liam Murphy (three hits) paced Syracuse.
Bishop Grimes took on Mexico last Monday and prevailed 4-1, the Cobras getting another fine pitching performance from Joe Wike, who held the Tigers to five hits and did not allow a walk.
Seth Murphy did most of the damage for Grimes at the plate, his pair of hits leading to three RBIs. Wike doubled and drove in a run, with David Cifonelli adding a double and Matt Tarby scoring twice.
Another low-scoring game on Thursday saw Grimes win again, this time 2-1 over Chittenango, with the Cobras needing a run in the bottom of the seventh to pull it out.
Leading 1-0 after one inning, Grimes found itself shut out by Bears pitchers Maddox Garvey and Nick Callahan until the seventh, with Chittenango tying it 1-1 in the fourth.
That was the only run Tarby would allow as he went five innings and held Chittenango to six hits. Murphy worked two innings of scoreless relief as Tarby and Ben Rivett drove in the runs, scored by Cifonelli and Devon Desiro-Camber.
