It only figures that the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool baseball teams would open their SCAC Metro division schedules against one another on Tuesday, renewing their long-time rivalry.
They did so off very different experiences during the April school break, with the Warriors taking its traditional trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as the Northstars stayed at home and played twice.
Already with an April 5 win over Westhill in the books, C-NS turned to face Ithaca last Monday at Onondaga Community College and rolled to a 15-0 victory over the Little Red.
The Northstars scored in every inning except the fourth, jumping out to a 7-0 advantage by the end of the second and then putting together a five-run fifth.
Corey Cartier’s home run was the game’s biggest blow, as he joined Logan Karowski and Grayson Giddings with two RBIs apiece. Mike Rockwell drove in three runs as single RBIs went to Battista Wood, Nick Klamm, Anthony Testa and Jake Lukasiewicz.
Three pitchers combined to hold Ithaca to six hits and kept them off the scoreboard, Sam Shaw going four innings and striking out seven to go with five combined strikeouts from Ben Freeman and Casey Gunnip.
Keeping it up on Wednesday afternoon, C-NS hammered Rome Free Academy 15-2, gaining an early 4-0 advantage and then pulling further away with an eight-run outburst in the fifth.
Bryce Zicaro belted a home run, added two other hits and got three RBIs to go with his six solid innings on the mound where he struck out 10 and limited the Black Knights to one hit. Klamm also had three hits and three RBIs as King and Rockwell both drove in a pair of runs.
C-NS faced East Syracuse Minoa on Thursday and rolled to a 10-1 victory, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first to gain control as Testa singled twice and earned five RBIs. Rockwell scored three runs and Luksaiewicz added three RBIs as Gunnip and Wood combined to hold the Spartans to two hits.
Liverpool, meanwhile, split its first two games at Myrtle Beach. Against West Forsyth (Georgia), the Warriors lost, 6-5, despite a Charles Anthony home run as he and Jack Hoppe both had two hits and two RBIs. Chris Baker scored twice as Nate Benjamin and Aidan Blincoe split pitching duties.
It turned around when Liverpool defeated Wakefield 10-5 in a game where it trailed, 4-3, before scoring three times in the sixth and four times in the seventh, Baker getting the win in relief of Noah Klasen.
Andrew Contos, with three hits, paced an attack where Dillon Murphy, Dylan Hogarth, Tyler Vivacqua and Sam Michalak each scored two runs. Benjamin, Baker and Lance Phillips had one RBI apiece.
