CENTRAL NEW YORK – As the April school break ended, area high school baseball teams were set to tackle the heart of their respective league schedules – at least until the snow returned.
Yet there was enough time last Monday for a couple of games, including one where Jamesville-DeWitt took on Auburn, a sectional Class A finalist last June, and prevailed 11-2 over the Maroons.
They were still 0-0 when, in the bottom of the third inning, the Red Rams batted around and scored six times, all that it would need, though it would three runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth.
Aidan McGuire singled, doubled and earned four RBIs. A.J. Sumida and Jake Ogata each drove in two runs as Carter King and Dante Santos both scored twice. King also pitched four innings to earn the win,
Only on Thursday did J-D’s win streak end at the expense of Cortland, who continued its torrid start by humbling the Rams in a 10-3 decision.
The Purple Tigers jumped out to a 4-0 edge before J-D struck for all of its runs in the third inning. And it remained 4-3 until the sixth, when Cortland batted around and scored six times to put the game away.
Sumida took the loss, with Ogata getting a pair of hits and also working 1 1/3 innings of relief. Tyler Blake gave the Purple Tigers a double, triple and three RBIs.
The two-game series concluded Friday with Cortland blanking J-D 6-0, Kooper Knabe holding the Rams to two hits, one each by King and Eamon Giblin. King also pitched and took the loss.
Fayetteville-Manlius was supposed to begin April 12 against Christian Brothers Academy, but instead had to wait until last Monday’s game against reigning sectional Class AA champion Baldwinsville to debut.
And the Hornets were tough in a 9-6 defeat to the Bees, scoring twice in the first inning to move in front and, after B’ville built a 5-2 advantage, rallying with three runs in the fifth to pull even at 5-5.
Yet the Bees struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and never got caught again. Chris Hoalcraft went deep for a home run and got three RBIs, with Robert Mason adding a single, two walks and two RBIs. Colin Mott took the loss as Max Danaher pitched three innings. Max Werde and Dan Swift also saw mound stints.
F-M then lost, 9-2, to undefeated West Genesee on Friday, unable to recover from a first inning where the Wildcats plated four runs off Mott. Andrew Valletta did triple in a run as Tom Woodridge added an RBI.
CBA returned to action Friday and put up 14 runs in the second inning of an 18-2 victory over the Bearcats. The deluge included a home run from Teck Nash and four RBIs from Jackson Marko as Louis Percival drove in three runs.
In Saturday’s 4-2 loss to West Genesee, the Brothers gave up all of the Wildcats’ runs in the fourth inning, Luke Boule taking the loss as Percival and Matt Landau’s sixth-inning run-scoring hits were not enough.
East Syracuse Minoa was still looking for its first win of the season and nearly got it last Monday against Oswego, only to take a 1-0 defeat to the Buccaneers.
For four innings, Spartans pitcher Carter Stewart matched zeroes with Oswego’s Matt Krul. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Krul drove home Tom Kirwan with the game’s lone run, and ESM couldn’t match it despite Stewart’s complete-game effort that included six strikeouts.
Then ESM played Friday and lost, 13-7, to Central Square, the game tied 5-5 until the Redhawks scored eight runs in the top of the seventh, negating an effort that included Jack Cook and Kevin Stewart each getting a pair of RBIs. A 9-2 loss to Auburn followed on Saturday afternoon.
Bishop Grimes fell 12-1 to reigning sectional Class B-1 champion Skaneateles last Thursday, with Frank Sgroi driving home Dominic Rossi for the Cobras’ lone run in the second inning.
But the Cobras rebounded to top Bishop Ludden 4-1 on Friday as Will Markwood held the Gaelic Knights to three hits while amassing 11 strikeouts.
Even with that, though, Grimes needed three runs in the top of the seventh to break a 1-1 tie, Nick Colagiovanni delivering the key blow as he earned two RBIs. Jon Farstler and R.J. Benedetto also drove in runs.
