Each of the area’s high school baseball teams within the Onondaga High School League Liberty division has experienced plenty of ups and downs this spring, and consistency has proven elusive.
Westhill entered the second half of its regular season at 6-4, but made a loud statement last Wednesday afternoon when it went to Marcellus and whipped the Mustangs 13-2.
It didn’t start out lopsided. Despite two runs in the first inning and another in the third, the Warriors were nearly caught when Marcellus scored twice in the bottom of the third, Aiden Shea and Jacob Walters driving in the runs.
From there, though, Philip Zollo settled down and, along with reliever Jack Knapp, blanked the Mustangs the rest of the way, the help arriving in the form of five-run rallies in the fifth and seventh innings.
Ben Coates hit a home run and finished with four RBIs. Nate King and Jake Zawadzki each had three hits, with King, Ryan Bennett and Adam Herne driving in two runs apiece. Zollo scored three runs and Walker Blossey added an RBI.
Marcellus recovered from this on Thursday in a big way by defeating Solvay 4-1, getting all the runs it needed when it scored twice in the first and third innings, with Shea scoring twice as he, along with Walters and Ryan Worden, drove in the runs.
Aside from Antonio Gonzalez driving home Owen Lansing in the bottom of the fourth, Mustangs pitcher Jack Flynn kept Solvay quiet, holding them to three hits and striking out five while walking four. Gonzalez took the loss.
As that went on, Westhill routed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 18-2, with Nick Bistrovich recording three RBIs as part of a well-balanced lineup. Five others – King, Zollo, Bennett, Herne and Justin Bistrovich – had two RBIs apiece.
All three of these teams would lose on Saturday – Westhill shut out 4-0 by Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, all of the Red Devils’ runs coming in the fifth inning, three of them driven home by Blake VanDreason’s double.
As that went on, Solvay and Marcellus both lost close decisions to Christian Brothers Academy as the Brothers rallied past the Bearcats 3-2 and topped the Mustangs 5-2
Solvay had Alex Gallardo and Carter Lee each get two hits, taking a 1-0 lead in the second inning and then netting a run in the seventh to break out of a 1-1 tie. But CBA answered by tying it again and winning on Kent Wilson’s RBI single.
Marcellus had Brody Shanahan and Jack Flynn score first-inning runs, but the 2-0 lead didn’t hold as, again, CBA rallied, tying it with single runs in the third and fifth before Jason Boule’s bases-clearing double in the sixth off Walters, pitching in relief of Jared Sammon, decided the game.
Back on Wednesday, Solvay claimed a tough 4-3 win over Homer. A three-run first inning had the Bearcats in front, but the Trojans scored twice in the third and again in the fifth to tie it, 3-3, only to have Solvay regain the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Gallardo and McKyle Sands each hit home runs, combining for three RBIs as Robby Clark also drove in a run. Blaine Franklin and Ethan Bigelow pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief after Sands started.
And after the loss to CBA, Solvay went to Jordan-Elbridge and handled the Eagles 12-2, scoring four times in the first time and then breaking it open with an eight-run sixth inning. Gallardo, with three hits, led the way as 10 different Bearcats drove in a run.
J-E had returned to action last Monday and lost, 5-1, to Port Byron/Union Springs, who scored twice in the first inning and then added three runs in the third on hits from Kyle Bailey and Caleb Roden.
No one had scored a run on PB/US until the Eagles did so in the top of the sixth, Sean Dristle’s double bringing home Nate Melfi. Yet that was all J-E could manage as Carson Ashby pitche 3 1/3 innings and took the loss, with relief help from Dristle and Ryan Rivenburg.
In Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Homer, the Eagles’ Jordan Osborn traded zeroes with Trojans pitcher Jed Brazo until the Trojans scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. Brazo held J-E to five hits, two of them from Rivenburg, and struck out 11. Osborn had six strikeouts.
Also on Thursday, Skaneateles returned to action and shut out Hannibal 10-0 in five innings, James Musso and Cregg Scherrer sharing the pitching duties as they combined to strike out 11 Warrior batters.
A four-run third inning and five-run fifth inning accounted for most of the Lakers’ production. Jimmy Liberatore had three RBIs, with Jon Niehbuhr driving in a pair of runs as Nate Wellington added an RBI.
