When the Section III large-school fall tournament tees off next Wednesday morning at Radisson, Fayetteville-Manlius will enter in top form, fresh off a record-setting performance that also clinched the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division regular-season championship.
It’s safe to say that the Hornets reached a peak in Friday’s match against West Genesee at Woodcrest, seven golfers shooting a cumulative one over par during a 176-198 victory over the Wildcats.
A win was needed to make sure F-M stayed ahead of Baldwinsville in the final league standings, and it got there by breaking the team-low mark of 179 it set against Cicero-North Syracuse Blue on Aug. 23.
Enzo Abruzzese was the standout, posting a three-under-par 33 to top the 34 shot by Adam Butch and the 35 by Mike Millimaci. Then Andrew Heyman and Matt LaCombe both shot 37, meaning that 39s from Velton Perry and Jack Sommers were not even needed.
After a week’s rest, F-M returned to action last Thursday, at Liverpool, where it handled the Warriors 193-203 with another display of consistency.
Perry and Heyman both shot 38 at Liverpool Country Club, behind the 37 from Liverpool’s Dylan Husted. Then Butch, Millimaci and LaCombe each posted 39, which only the Warriors’ Spencer Baum could match.
Heading into the sectional tournament, Jamesville-DeWitt was one of the favorites in Class A, nearly making it through the entire regular season without a defeat.
The Red Rams were finally topped last Wednesday afternoon in a three-team battle with Auburn and Central Square on the Maroons’ home course at Highland.
J-D beat the Redhawks 207-219, but lost to Auburn, who posted 201 as Ross Burgmaster led them with a 37. All of the Maroons’ top golfers shot 43 or lower.
Peter Hatton, with a 38, had the Rams’ lone sub-40 total. Punn Chittaratlert and Tyler Brang both posted 41 as Tanner Burns shot 43 and Essex Glowaki had a 44.
The schedule was to allow for immediate revenge since J-D and Auburn would face East Syracuse Minoa’s pair of teams Thursday at the Links at Erie Village, but that got rained out.
Back on Tuesday, J-D had roared past Syracuse City 194-237 at Drumlins, led by a 32 from Chittaratlert and a 33 from Hatton. Ian Delpha got a 42 as Matt Radford shot a 43 and Cooper Werner finished with a 44.
ESM faced Fulton last Tuesday at Battle Island, with ESM Blue winning at 208 to the Red Raiders’ 227. David Griffith shot a 37, with Joe Pacheco and Dan Sitnik each posting 39. Owen White and Zach Johnson both finished at 46 as Colin Decker (49) and Logan Welch (50) had the best scores for ESM Orange, who finished at 263.
At Willowbrook a day later, ESM met Cortland, with Blue falling 207-234 to the Purple Tigers as Orange shot 272. Pacheco and Sitnik each shot 43, but four Cortland golfers had that score or lower, led by a 36 from Andrew Partigianoni. White shot 48 and Johnson had a 49 as Aaron Reynolds led ESM Orange with a 51.
At Rogues Roost on Tuesday, Christian Brothers Academy has its turn in the small-school version of the fall sectional tournament, having cooled off following a hot start in early September.
CBA lost, 218-224, to Skaneateles last Tuesday, with Joe Nicholson shooting a 44 at Skaneateles Country Club, six behind the 38 by the Lakers’ Tynan Jones.
The rest of the scores proved even as Jack MacLachlan, James Stanton and Mike Santoro each shot 45 for CBA, but Shawn Luce (43), Drew Henderson (44), Tyson DiRubbo (45) and Will Cowden (48) helped Skaneateles stay in front.
Ending its skid on Wednesday, CBA beat Tully 202-225 as Nicholson and Stanton both finished at 38 and Ryan McLoughlin added a 39. Jack McLaughlin had a 43 and Angelo shot 44.
