CENTRAL NEW YORK – Faced with the impossible act of following its dramatic run to the 2019 Section III Class AA championship, the Fayetteville-Manlius baseball team immediately found itself dealing with adversity again.
Under new head coach (and F-M alum) Cory Nelson, the Hornets’ first game of 2021 was a reunion with the very same Baldiwnsville team it beat in that long-ago sectional final.
And the Bees got the best of it, topping F-M 6-1 in a game where the Hornets did not record a hit off B’ville pitcher Lukas Arvantides until the sixth inning, when Tom Woodridge singled to drive home Connor Wieczorek.
Itai Spinoza pitched four innings, allowing four runs, with Woodridge and Ian Mott seeing relief stints. Aiden Milburn led B’ville at the plate with three hits and two runs scored.
It didn’t take long for F-M to bounce back, though, as it gave Nelson his first coaching victory on Thursday when the Hornets topped Jamesville-DeWitt 9-4.
F-M jumped out 2-0 before the Red Rams tied it in the third inning. Then the Hornets scored once in the fourth and twice in the fifth, but ultimately needed a four-run outburst in the top of the seventh to put the game away.
Woodridge hit a home run as he and Itai Spinoza both got two RBIs. Max Danaher and Chris Hoalcraft also drove in runs as Carter King got a pair of RBIs for J-D, Matt Alexander and Kevin Markert also getting RBIs.
J-D got into the win column last Monday against Fulton, where it split a doubleheader.
The Red Rams’ 11-7 victory was built upon bolting to an 8-0 lead through two innings, mostly thanks to a six-run second which allowed it to withstand the Red Raiders’ mid-game comeback.
King’s home run was part of a three-hit outing as he scored four times and, along with Markert, Dante Santos and Corey Kretsch, earned two RBIs. Alexander and Nolen Brannr drove in single runs.
Fulton claimed the other game 9-3 as it scored five runs in the second inning to take control. Jake Ogata still had a double and RBI, with Santos adding two hits.
Christian Brothers Academy, who beat J-D in its May 1 opener, returned last Thursday to zoom past Cazenovia 10-2, erasing a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the third inning before it got away with a six-run rally in the sixth.
Casey Vaughan pitched three no-hit innings in relief of Luke Boule. Mike Schaefer hit a solo home run, with Cody Miller getting three hits and Louie Percival picking up three RBIs.
A day later, CBA blasted Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 16-0, getting all of those runs in four innings. Jack Harrigan had three of the Brothers’ 15 hits as he, along with Schaefer and Mike Harrigan, drove in two runs apiece.
Meanwhile, East Syracuse Minoa made its season debut against visiting Auburn, and produced more runs than F-M did, yet still lost 6-4 to the Maroons.
Auburn built a 6-0 lead through four innings as Alec McQueeney led the visitors with three RBIs. The Spartans cut that margin in half with three runs in the bottom of the fifth and tacked on a run in the seventh, but the comeback fell short.
Spencer Carnival took the loss, with Vinnie Boza working 4 1/3 innings of relief. Nick Roseamella doubled and drove in two runs as Jacob White added a single and RBI.
ESM also lost the rematch to Auburn 12-0 at Falcon Park Wednesday night, held to one hit, from Roseamella, against a trio of Maroons pitchers. Auburn broke it open with a seven-run third inning as White, Dylan Clark and Carter Stewart each saw pitching stints.
Then the Spartans fell to Cicero-North Syracuse 7-1 on Thursday as its neighbors from Bishop Grimes took a tough 5-4 defeat to Bishop Ludden.
Jack Gutchess drove in three run as the Cobras built a 4-1 lead by the third inning. It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Seth Murphy tired and Ludden scored twice before eighth-grader Joe Dunham’s single brought home the tying and winning run. Grimes then lost Saturday to Cazenovia 8-1.
Only on Friday did ESM finally get into the win column, outscoring Central Square 13-8 to break its three-game skid as a game between CBA and F-M set for Saturday got rained out.
