CENTRAL NEW YORK – For a program carrying championship expectations, the Cicero-North Syracuse baseball team would face the most difficult path possible in order to claim the Section III Class AA title.
Even holding a no. 3 seed, the Northstars would have to go through the top two seeds – first West Genesee, then Baldwinsville – within a span of less than 48 hours to climb to the summit.
As it turned out, C-NS never got past the Wildcats, taking a 2-1 defeat in Thursday’s sectional semifinal game in Camillus that turned on a steady stream of missed opportunities.
In each of the first two innings, the Northstars had two runners on base with one out, but could not convert, WG pitcher Ryan Klementowski getting out of one jam with a 1-6-3 double play and another with two strikeouts.
Then, in the bottom of the third, the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead when it loaded the bases and had Dan Davis double, though Jacob Crystal escaped further damage.
In fact, for the rest of the game Crystal was superb, the left-hander only giving up five hits overall and waiting for his teammates to give him some run support.
But all that C-NS would get would be a fourth-inning run out of Brian Bonin’s single, a successful bunt and a throwing error that allowed Bonin to race home.
It was still a one-run game when, with two out in the top of the seventh, Corey Cartier singled and Bryce Zicaro walked. With the tying and go-ahead runs on base, Logan Karowski flew out, and WG advanced to faced Baldwinsville in the sectional final.
C-NS got off to the start it wanted in last Tuesday’s quarterfinal against no. 6 seed Utica Proctor, unleashing plenty of offense in a 14-3 win over the Raiders.
Building a 10-0 margin through five innings, the Northstars saw Corey Cartier go three-for-three with a single, double and triple and score three runs.
Matt Klamm got a pair of RBIs, with single RBIs going to Bonin, Zicaro, Matt Kasch Mike Rockwell, Jake Lukasiewicz and John Harbaugh as Ty King joined Rockwell, Kasch and Bonin in scoring a pair of runs.
At least C-NS reached the semifinal round, something Liverpool found itself unable to do after waiting until the end of the regular season to secure its playoff spot.
Up against no. 4 seed Rome Free Academy in last Tuesday’s quarterfinals, the no. 5 seed Warriors went through seven scoreless innings, only to get shut out itself and have the Black Knights prevail 1-0 in eight.
Much of the game was a duel between Liverpool pitcher Anthony Lapine and his RFA counterpart, Riley Brawdy. Neither would surrender a run in regulation, Lapine striking out 10 and only surrendering a single walk.
Brawdy amassed nine strikeouts and limited the Warriors to singles from Lapine and Adam Marsh. And he was rewarded when, in the bottom of the eighth, he reached base and scored the winning run on Marco Macri’s single.
RFA went on ton an 8-0 defeat to Baldwinsville in the sectional semifinals as Liverpool’s season ended with a 6-10 record.
