BALDWINSVILLE – Though it had won the Section III Class A championship the last time it was handed out in 2019, considering the Baldwinsville boys lacrosse team as the area’s reigning power still seemed a stretch.
But the 2021 season had mostly reinforced the Bees’ place atop the large-school ranks, and when it defeated West Genesee 14-7 in last Saturday’s sectional final at Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium, the mantle fit even more.
B’ville arrived at this game as a considerable favorite based on its 13-3 record when contrasted with the Wildcats’ 6-10 mark, not to mention the fact that it had beaten WG three times in the regular season.
However, the third of those games, on May 22, was a tight affair that the Bees pulled out 7-6, at least creating some sense of uncertainty about what would take place in the sectional final.
And briefly WG did take a 2-1 lead, only to have B’ville move in front for good with a surge late in the first quarter that hinted at something much bigger not far down the road.
Only up 5-4 late in the second period, the Bees charged to halftime with three straight goals, the first two by Ryan Hollenbeck, followed by a tally from Colin Socker that made the margin 8-4 going into the break.
Any doubts about the outcome were erased when, early in the third quarter, B’ville got goals from Mike Marsallo and Jacob Czyz seconds apart, followed by Socker and Trey Ordway finding the net.
Suddenly, a close game was now a 12-4 affair, and for the rest of the game the Bees comfortably held that margin as Marsallo, one of 14 seniors playing his last high-school game, led B’ville with three goals.
Hollenbeck, Ordway and Socker were close behind, each of them scoring twice, with Czyz one of five other goal-scorers as B’ville’s depth and balance proved far too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
In contrast to WG’s hard-fought 9-8 win over Cicero-North Syracuse in its sectional semifinal, the Bees eased itself away from no. 4 seed Liverpool last Thursday as it prevailed 17-7 over the Warriors.
Three previous encounters this spring had seen B’ville outscore Liverpool a combined 46-17, though the 15-10 decision in the June 3 regular-season finale hinted at more of a battle.
Indeed, the two sides were tied 2-2 through one period of their playoff clash, but the Bees went on a 4-1 run to close the half and steadily, over the course of the last two periods, put the Warriors away, just as it would against West Genesee.
