Through a memorable Sunday afternoon at Onondaga Community College, Skaneateles and Westhill waged an epic battle for the Section III Class B baseball championship, testing the nerves and hearts of players and fans alike.
It went 14 innings, the equivalent of two full games, and four-plus hours, and only ended when Tommy Reed doubled home Jack Canty to give the Lakers a 4-3 victory over the Warriors and its first sectional title since 2004.
“We worked hard all 14 innings, and we ended up getting it,” said Canty. “It feels perfect.”
When Canty, who also was the winning pitcher for his 3 2/3 innings of relief after Cregg Scherrer started and Reed followed, singled with two out in the bottom of the 14th, it was only the last of a long list of opportunities both teams had to break a 3-3 tie that held since the fourth inning.
As Reed came to the plate to face Westhill’s Philip Zollo, he said that he “just wanted to move (Canty) over” into scoring position, but he did much more, driving a shot down the right-field line that made it all the way to the wall.
“I knew I had to put on the afterburners,” said Canty, and he did so, not stopping until he had crossed home plate and joined his teammates in a celebration of an epochal victory over a long-time diamond rival.
Back when it started, Skaneateles had its ace, Scherrer, on the mound following two 1-0 shutouts earlier in the playoffs over Marcellus and Camden, and they staked him to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Jack Carlisle’s RBI double and Nate Wellington’s two-run triple.
But Westhill, who had beaten the Lakers 7-3 on April 25 when Scherrer didn’t pitch, maintained its poise and, in the top of the third, two singles brought up Ryan Bennett, who smacked a triple over Wellington’s head to the center-field wall, scoring Brandon Amidon-Crawford and Philip Zollo.
An inning later, Ben Coates singled, went to second on a balk, reached third on a groundout and tied it, 3-3, when he raced home to beat a wide throw from Jack Whirtley on Jake Zawadzki’s grounder.
And it would stay 3-3 for a long while, through a 35-minute rain delay and a month’s worth of twists and turns where each side threatnened to go out in front., but could not do so.
Westhill relievers Jack Knapp and Nate King worked through eight scoreless innings after starter Nick Bistrovich was knocked out in the second. Meanwhile, Scherrer, accumulating 10 strikeouts, lasted until the top of the eighth, when he reached his maximum pitch count and Reed relieved him.
In the ninth, Westhill put two runners on base with two out, but Reed coaxed Ben Coates, to ground out. Skaneateles also had two runners on in the bottom of the ninth before King made Jack Whirtley look at strike three.
Then the Warriors missed a better chance in the top of the 10th when, with two on and Canty now on the mound, he coaxed Adam Herne into a ground ball where the throw to Scherrer at first was wide – but Jake Zawadzki tried to dash for home and, Scherrer threw to Jimmy Liberatore, who tagged out Zawadzki to end the inning.
Now, in the bottom of the 10th. Luke Viggiano walked, and Zollo took over for King on the mound. Scherrer bunted Viggiano over to second,, Liberatore walked, and Canty’s bunt single loaded the bases, but Reed and Emil Sander both popped out on the first pitches they saw.
Both sides stranded two runners in the 11th inning. In the bottom of the 12th, with two on and one out, Sander singled to right, and Canty tried to score, but Adam Herne threw him out.
Westhill stranded two more runners in the 13th inning, leading to the 14th, where Canty pitched another shutout inning – and then found himself crossing the plate to seal a victory and a sectional title.
Skaneateles will face Susquehanna Valley (Section IV) in the Class B regional final Saturday at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton, the winner to return to the Binghamton area for the June 14-15 state final four.
