ONONDAGA COUNTY – On a hot Tuesday afternoon, the Westhill and Marcellus baseball teams engaged in one of the season’s most memorable contests, ultimately lasting 12 innings before the Warriors edged the Mustangs 5-4.
A three-run first inning put Marcellus in front. Westhill answered with single tallies in the first and third, but had to wait until the bottom of the seventh where, three outs from defeat, it pulled even.
In the eighth inning, the Mustangs went up 4-3, but again the Warriors answered, and three scoreless frames followed until, in the bottom of the 12th, Westhill pushed across the winning run when Aiden Kerr singled, Tyler Campbell walked, Nick Havilland singled to load the bases and Kerr raced home on Geoff Daniul’s grounder, beating the throw to score.
Jake Zawadzki had two hits and scored twice, with Haviland and Daniul also getting two hits. Mike Madigan pitched seven innings before Dominic Zawadzki took over in the eighth and, in the 11th, Campbell pitched in relief, tossing two scoreless frames to earn the win.
Adam Sullivan pitched 7 1/3 innings for Marcellus, with Colin Johnson and Ethan Snyder also seeing mound stints. Hunter Byrne’s pair of hits led to two RBIs as Snyder also got two hits and Sullivan drove in a run.
All this happened after Westhill fell 4-1 to Christian Brothers Academy on Monday, with all the Brothers’ runs coming in the first and third innings. Haviland drove in Jake Zawadzki with the Warriors’ lone run in the bottom of the third.
And the defeat didn’t affect Marcellus too much, for it topped Homer 3-2 a day later, using a run in the fourth to tie it and two runs in the fifth to go in front.
Byrne went three-for-three at the plate and pitched five solid innings, overcoming four hits and six walks before Snyder worked the last two innings of scoreless relief to help his team hang on.
Whatever else it would accomplish this spring, West Genesee could at least know it earned bragging rights against Liverpool.
Three times in a span of 19 days, the Wildcats got the best of the Warriors, and none was more impressive than last Monday’s 11-0 romp in Camillus.
Ryan Klementowski was superb on the mound, going six innings and only allowing two hits and striking out 10 without surrendering a walk.
A five-run second inning was all that Klementowski needed, but WG batted around again in the bottom of the fifth and tacked on six more runs.
Jake DePalma and Luis Suarez led the way, each getting a double and three RBIs. Markus Vogt scored twice and drove in a pair of runs as Klementowski, Dan Flaherty and Talon Elkins had one RBI apiece.
Skaneateles had moved to 8-3 on the season May 22 with an 11-3 victory over Solvay. The Bearcats led 3-1 through four innings, only to see the Lakers erupt for seven runs in the top of the fifth to go in front.
Cooper Purdy and Casey Kenan each had three hits, with Purdy scoring three times to go with a pair of RBIs. Ashton Bennett also drove in a pair of runs as Patrick Herr got an RBI.
Travis Loy and Bryce Lincoln split the pitching duties for Sknaeateles, only allowing four hits while striking out nine to overcome six walks. Caden Salvagni led Solvay with two hits and an RBI.
From there, the Lakers went on to handle Bishop Grimes 10-1 on Monday, with James Musso in the spotlight as he threw a complete game, striking out 11 and getting his own four-hitter.
More steady at the plate in this game, Sknaeateles built a 5-1 lead and then clinched it with five runs in the sixth as Patrick Herr and Nate Shattuck both got two RBIs. Landon Hellwig and Emil Sander both scored three runs.
Solvay prevailed on Wednesday 5-4 over Chittenango, with Jonathan Gonzalez-Perez doubling and driving in two runs as Salvagni and Zach Balducci got one RBI apiece. Carter Lee picked up a pair of hits.
Bishop Ludden earned a 4-0 shutout over Pulaski Tuesday as pitcher Joe Dunham limited the Blue Devils to two hits in his complete-game shutout, striking out seven.
All of the Gaelic Knights’ runs came in the bottom of the third inning, with Joe Dunham, Tim Dunham, Mike Masterpole and Peter Dunham each getting an RBI in that rally.
