CENTRAL NEW YORK – Whether it was just good performance from the opposition or late-season fatigue, area high school baseball teams had plenty of defeats with the Section III playoffs looming.
For example, Skaneateles took a 5-2 defeat to Christian Brothers Academy on May 27, unable to overcome the 5-0 advantage the Brothers built in the first four innings.
The Lakers were blanked until it put up single runs in the sixth and seventh. James Musso got two hits and an RBI as Bryce Lincoln took the loss, with Cooper Purdy pitching two innings of relief.
But Skaneateles got even with CBA last Tuesday, romping to a 10-3 victory as it led from the outset, but didn’t feel comfortable until it scored five times in the top of the seventh.
Emil Sander, with three hits and three runs scored, set the pace at the plate, with Nate Shattuck getting four RBIs. Patrick Herr drove in a pair of runs and Bryce Lincoln got two hits as Musso pitched a complete game, striking out seven.
Westhill went from its 12-inning victory over Marcellus on May 25 to losing 10-2 to Bishop Grimes two days later, the Cobras doing most of the damage in an eight-run third inning.
All the Warriors got was two hits (both by Aiden Kerr) off Grimes pitchers Seth Murphy and Bruno Kinsey. Mike Madigan walked three times but did not score a run as Geoff Daniul was credited with an RBI.
Then it turned around again on May 29 when Westhill hammered Hannibal 11-1, getting runs in each of the first five innings as Kerr, Jake Zawadzki and Nick Haviland (the winning pitcher) got two RBIs apiece, with Ethan Petty and Tyler Campbell both scoring a pair of runs.
Westhill won its rematch with Grimes 1-0 last Tuesday as Madigan outpitched Seth Murphy, only giving up two hits and getting the lone run he needed when Zawadzki singled home Daniul in the first inning.
The Warriors were stopped 9-2 by CBA on Thursday, its second defeat to the Brothers in as many weeks. All that Westhill managed was four hits as Haviland and Madigan were each credited with an RBI, and the Warriors then lost 13-1 to Cicero-North Syracuse on Friday but won a 7-6 rematch with the Northstars a day later.
As for Marcellus, it beat Chittenango 10-7 on May 28, building an early 8-0 edge and hanging on late as Ethan Sullivan and Adam Snyder both got a pair of RBIs, with Ryan Worden getting two hits and scoring three times.
A closer, low-scoring affair last Tuesday resulted in the Mustangs prevailing 2-1 over the Bears and getting the sweep.
Then Marcellus turned to Jordan-Elbridge, beating the Eagles 5-0 last Wednesday as it scored three times in the first inning, enough for John Francesconi, who tossed six shutout innings and struck out 10 while only allowing four hits. Sullivan doubled and drove in a pair of runs as Hunter Byrne added an RBI.
A 13-3 romp over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown followed on Thursday as the Mustangs improved to 11-5. James Scherer scored three runs as he, along with Sullivan, Ryder Donahue, Quinten Weaver and Colin Johnson, earned two hits apiece.
Marcellus knocked off yet another local opponent on Friday when it topped Solvay 7-3, getting all it needed from four runs in the second inning and three runs two innings later.
Worden doubled, singled and drove in three runs. Snyder scored twice as he, along with Donahue and James Scherer, drove in single runs. Three Mustangs pitchers – Scherer, Johnson and Byrne – held the Bearcats to four hits.
Before this, Solvay tried on May 29 to end Cazenovia’s 11-game win streak, but could not quite pull it off, falling 5-3 to the Lakers.
Scoring twice in the first inning and again in the third, the Bearcats led 3-2, with Jonathan Gonzalez Perez earning an RBI, only to see Cazenovia get three runs in the bottom of the fourth and hang on from there. Zach Bowen took the loss, with Antonio Gonzalez pitching in relief.
Another close defeat followed, Solvay falling 6-5 to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, whose pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning erased a 5-4 Bearcats lead. Gonzalez-Perez’s pair of hits led to three RBIs as Zach Balduzzi also drove in a run.
Solvay did conclude on Saturday with its own offensive explosion in a 16-5 win over Phoenix where Gonzalez Perez and Christian Salamino each drove in three runs and Zach Bowen drove in two runs. Anthony Berry had three hits.
Then the sectional Class B playoff brackets were released – two of them, because 17 teams qualified and the class split.
In B-1, Marcellus had the no. 3 seed and would meet no. 6 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill in the quarterfinals as no. 5 seed Westhill faces no. 4 seed Homer. In B-2, it would be no. 3 seed Sknaeateles against no. 6 seed Solvay for a berth in Thursday’s semifinal against Clinton or Little Falls.
