ONONDAGA COUNTY – Even with two wins in three games against fellow contender Baldwinsville, the Cicero-North Syracuse baseball team’s place atop the SCAC Metro division standings would prove tenuous.
A day after beating the Bees 4-3 on May 29, the Northstars hosting West Genesee and dould not recover from a rough start and lost, 13-3, to the Wildcats.
Winning its fifth in a row, WG scored six times in the first inning, extended its lead to 9-0 by the second and cruised the rest of the way, with the two sides knowing they would meet again in Camillus on Tuesday afternoon.
The rematch proved far closer, as Corey Cloutier doubled and scored in the top of the first and Bryce Zicaro, pitching again (he had thrown the last inning against B’ville), maintained that 1-0 edge for a while.
But with two out in the bottom of the fifth, Luke Vogt drew a walk, Nick Jessen singled and Jake DePalma, who had doubled earlier, ripped a single that scored Vogt and, with a throwing error, allowed Jessen to race home with the go-ahead run and put the Wildcats up 2-1.
Aidan Leaf’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth doubled the margin to 3-1, and it would stay there. Jessen, in a pitching gem, retired the last six batters he faced and struck out the side in the seventh to increase his total to 14 strikeouts.
Needing some confidence after those defeats, C-NS received it Friday from a 13-1 romp over Westhill where Zicaro, Cartier and Matt Klamm produced two hits apiece. Mike Rockwell walked twice and scored three runs as Zicaro and Klamm each got a pair of RBIs and Jacob Crystal struck out six in his four innings on the mound.
When these same two teams met on Saturday, though, it was Westhill prevailing 7-6, building a 7-2 advantage and holding off the Northstars’ late comeback which had three RBIs from Brian Bonin and two RBIs from Jake Lukasiewicz.
Liverpool entered the final week of the season off getting swept by Christian Brothers Academy in last Saturday’s doubleheader, the Brothers taking the first game 2-0 and the second game 6-5.
Despite this, and despite a 7-2 defeat to Baldwinsville the Warriors were able to earn a Section III Class AA playoff berth when it defeated Fayetteville-Manlius 10-3 on Saturday right before it faced the Bees.
Adam Marsh pitched six innings against the Hornets, allowing four hits. Meanwhile, Sam Michalak walked twice and scored three runs as Marsh and Jack Hoppe drove in two runs apiece. Nick Stevens and Noah Klasen each added an RBI.
Gaining the no. 5 seed in the sectional bracket, Liverpool would face no. 4 seed Rome Free Academy for a berth in the semifinals against B’ville, the top seed, while C-NS, with the no. 3 seed, would need to defeat no. 6 seed Utica Proctor in order to get to meet West Genesee or Syracuse in the semifinals.
