Given the ups and downs of the Section III Class B playoffs, perhaps it made sense that Skaneateles and Westhill, two tried-and-true programs ended up squaring off for the title.
In Friday’s semifinals at Utica’s Murnane Field, the no. 7 seed Warriors made two different comebacks to knock off no. 3 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 9-7, followed by the no. 4 seed Lakers turning back no. 8 seed Solvay 8-2.
Just getting to those semifinals required a trio of quarterfinal wins that were special in their own way.
Solvay, six runs down, somehow rallied in the seventh inning to beat Clinton 10-9, and later that night Skaneateles survived a tense 1-0, eight-inning battle with Camden..
The fact that no. 8 seed Solvay was facing Clinton was remarkable enough, as the no. 16 seed Warriors shocked top seed Holland Patent 5-3 just to get here.
Yet it looked, like Clinton would topple the Bearcats, too. After Solvay took a 2-0 first-inning lead, the Warriors got five runs n the top of the second to move out in front.
Then Clinton scored three times in the top of the sixth to make it 9-3, and that’s where it stood heading to the bottom of the seventh.
Here, Warriors pitcher Joel Cleveland tired, and Solvay scored three times to cut the deficit to 9-6, but Cleveland and Jandre Garcia recorded the first two outs to push the Bearcats to the brink of having its season end.
All at once, though, Garcia lost control, twice issuing bases-loaded walks. Andrew Krom came in to pitch, but he walked Owen Lansing, and the tying run trotted home. Moments later, Alex Gallardo drilled a single off Krom and the winning run scored.
Now Solvay fans ventured over to Onondaga Community College, where Skaneateles again sent its ace, Cregg Scherrer, to the mound against Camden on four days’ rest following his 1-0 win over Marcellus in the previous round.
Scherrer and his Blue Devils counterpart, Justin Cox, dueled through seven regulation innings. Cox allowed four hits, but struck out nine, while Scherrer was dominant, not allowing a hit until Shallen Simpson singled to lead off the top of the seventh – and moments later, Scherrer picked off Simpson.
In the top of the eighth Scherrer recorded his 13th and 14th strikeouts. Leading off the bottom of the eighth Nate Wellington singled, Jack Whirtley executed a s sacrifice bunt and, one pitch later, Luke Viggiano tagged Cox for a single up the middle that sent Wellington racing home with the game’s only run,.
A day earlier, Westhill avoided the dramatic extremes of its OHSL Liberty division rivals, but the no. 7 seed Warriors still upended no. 2 seed Port Byron/Union Springs 4-2,putting an end to the Panthers’ 17-game win streak.
Trailing 1-0 after one inning, the Warriors went ahead for good with three runs in the top of the fourth, adding an insurance run an inning later as Walker Blossey doubled and got two RBIs. Nick Bistrovich pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits, while Nate King went the rest of the way, limiting PB/US to five hits.
That set up Friday’s semifinal with VVS, where the Warriors fell behind 2-0 in the first inning and would get single runs in the next three frames, yet still 4-3 when it went out in front in the top of the sixth, scoring twice.
That lead didn’t hold, with the Red Devils striking for three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but three outs from elimination, Westhill, now trailing 7-5, cranked it up again in the top of the seventh, crossing the plate four times.
Philip Zollo led these comebacks, getting a single, double and three RBIs, while Blossey drove in two runs and Jake Zawadzki scored twice. King tossed a scoreless seventh inning to end it, having gone 3 2/3 innings in relief of Zollo.
There was none of this drama in the second sectional semifinal, Skaneateles striking for a first-inning run against Solvay when Scherrer scored on a passed ball and then taking charge with four runs in the bottom of the third
Scherrer started it again with a double, Jimmy Liberatore walked and Tommy Reed drove them both in with a double. That chased Bearcats starter Mason Sands, but Jack Carlisle greeted reliever Antonio Gonzalez with a two-out, two-run double.
Solvay didn’t score until the top of the sixth against James Musso, the Lakers pitcher who got even more support when the Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the sixth.
Though it was in the same situation as the Clinton game entering the seventh inning, Solvay would not come back here, Musso holding the Bearcats to six hits overall while striking out nine.
The sectional final on Sunday at OCC will have Skaneateles
