ONONDAGA COUNTY – Coming off a week where it played five times and won three of them, the West Genesee baseball team still found itself looking up at the top Salt City Athletic Conference metro division contenders.
The Wildcats had its third meeting with Baldwinsville last Monday, having lost in the seventh inning of the May 1 opener and, a week later, saw a 0-0 contest get halted by rain.
Nothing stopped this encounter from taking place, and while WG proved stingy, it didn’t translate into a victory as it took a 3-1 defeat to the Bees.
B’ville struck for all its runs in the top of the first inning off Nick Jessen, after which he settled down and, with reliever Aidan Leaf, blanked the Bees the rest of the way.
The Wildcats got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, Cameron Hovater driving home Luis Suarez, but WG had just two hits off B’ville pitchers Aiden Milburn and Kai Girard.
When WG had a rematch with Auburn a week after it beat the Maroons 7-5 at Falcon Park on May 11, it managed its own big first inning, scoring four times on the way to a 5-1 victory.
Jacob Severson’s two-run single was the key blow as Suarez and Dan Davis also had RBIs. Ryan Klementowski made that early lead stick, pitching a complete game and limiting Auburn to four hits while recording nine strikeouts.
Even more impressive was what WG did on Friday against Liverpool, with Eric Korzeniewski pitching a gem during the Wildcats’ 3-1 win over the Warriors.
Korzeniewski only allowed four hits and overcame four walks in his complete-game effort, blanking Liverpool after the first inning. Down 1-0, WG went in front with a pair of third-inning runs and tacked on a run in the fourth as Vogt earned a pair of hits and Jacob DePalma earned an RBI.
Marcellus started the week at 3-1 and, in the first of five games in as many days, improved on that mark last Monday with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Bishop Grimes.
John Francesconi kept the Cobras quiet until the Mustangs struck for two runs in the bottom of the fourth, with Jared Walters and Adam Sullivan scoring those runs.
Despite allowing a run in the seventh, Francesconi was able to get the final outs, only surrendering three hits overall while striking out six.
Now the Mustangs had two games against Christian Brothers Academy, with Mexico in between, and in the first of those games against the Brothers absorbed a 16-5 defeat.
Marcellus did beat Mexico 9-5 on Wednesday, with Worden scoring three runs and Ethan Snyder recording a pair of hits as Colin Johnson pitched five innings and Sullivan worked two innings of relief.
But the Mustangs then took a 4-1 defeat to CBA in Thursday’s rematch, only getting a run in the fifth inning driven in by George West as Matt Boule drove in two of the Brothers’ four runs.
This busy stretch would end with Marcellus routing Bishop Ludden on Friday, the 15-2 decision ended when the Mustangs buried the Gaelic Knights during a 12-run second inning.
Ryder Donahue, with three RBIs, paced the Mustangs. Worden, Snyder and Dylan Hood each drove in a pair of runs as Jared Walters and Dan Mitchell combined to hold Ludden to four hits.
