CENTRAL NEW YORK – As it enters SCAC Metro division play, the West Genesee baseball team is in good early-season form.
The Wildcats ripped past Ithaca 20-2 last Tuesday afternoon, exploding for 15 runs in the first two innings. Luis Suarez belted a home run as he and Vincent Firenze had four RBIs apiece.
Eric Korzeniewski, Ryan Klementowski and Dan Flaherty each drove in three runs, Landyn Shaw adding a pair of RBIs as Flaherty tripled, singled twice and scored three times.
Two days later, WG handled Rome Free Academy 7-1, the four runs in the first inning all that Klementowski needed as, in five innings on the mound, he struck out 10 and held the Black Knights to one hit. Talon Elkins led at the plate with three hits, while Aidan Leaf recorded a pair of RBIs.
Then, in Friday’s 5-2 win over Auburn, Suarez and Jacob Severson both drove in a pair of runs, the Wildcats breaking out of a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth. Combined, Suarez, Wyatt Braun and Landyn Shaw held the Maroons to five hits and amassed nine strikeouts.
Just as impressive was what Westhill did against Bishop Grimes, the Warriors scoring five runs in the first inning and 10 runs in the second on the way to crushing the Cobras 18-1.
Amid a 14-hit attack, Taden Chester and Tyler Campbell both finished with three RBIs. Ryan Campbell drove in a pair of runs as six different players – Chester, Ryan Campbell, Mike Madigan, Geoff Daniul, Aiden Kerr and Nick LaFex – scored two runs apiece.
More runs followed for Westhill as it handled East Syracuse Minoa 17-6 on Wednesday, scoring multiple runs in every inning except the fourth as Madigan, with his three singles, produced five RBIs. Tyler Campbell doubled twice and drove in three runs as Chester had two hits and two RBis.
On the other end of the spectrum was Westhill’s 3-0 win over Syracuse on Friday where it leaned on Madigan and Tyler Campbell, who combined to pitch a three-hit shutout that included 17 strikeouts. Dominic Zawadzki had two hits at the plate, with Madigan and Kerr each getting an RBI.
Back on Tuesday, Solvay met Bishop Ludden and put an end to the Gaelic Knights’ three-game win streak, the Bearcats prevailing 8-5.
Never trailing, Solvay netted two runs in the third, fifth sixth and seventh innings, helped in no small part by five Ludden errors. Jonathan Gonzalez-Perez and Jaylen King each got two RBIs, with Justin Palmisano also driving in a run as Peter Dunham drove in two of the Gaelic Knights’ runs and Mike Masterpole had two hits.
Then Solvay had its own rout against Bishop Grimes, plating eight runs in the first inning and seven runs in the third on the way to handling the Cobras 17-1.
Anthony Berry tripled and set a career mark with five RBIs. Justin Palmisano and Sam Gonzalez each drove in three runs, with Jordan Dippold and Dan Mrowinski each getting three hits and two RBIs while combining to score six runs.
Solvay lost, 4-2, to Homer on Thursday afternoon. Dippold and Robert Tarolli drove in fifth-inning runs to give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead, but the Trojans answered with three runs in the sixth, negating Mrowinski’s five-inning, eight-strikeout effort on the mound.
