CENTRAL NEW YORK – Four area high school baseball teams were set to plunge into the Section III Class B playoffs, all of them believing that, if things broke their way, a championship run was possible.
Skaneateles lost two close battles to Westhill this month, but against another main rival was able to find success last Tuesday as the Lakers got a 5-4 victory over Marcellus.
Jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first two innings, Skaneateles still required a two-run fifth to withstand the Mustangs’ late comeback as, down 5-1, it earned three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but could not tie it.
John Francesconi had two RBIs, with Ethan Snyder also driving in a run and Colin Johnson scoring twice. Francesconi also pitched 4 2/3 innings before relief stints from Johnson and Hunter Byrne.
What followed, a day later, was Marcellus going to extra innings against Solvay and, once again, finding itself on the wrong end of a one-run decision, the Bearcats prevailing 7-6.
Solvay led 4-0 through four innings before the Mustangs struck for all six of its runs in the fifth, the key blows a pair of two-run doubles from Adam Sullivan and Ethan Snyder. Byrne also drove in a run.
Battling back, the Bearcats tied it, 6-6, in the bottom of the sixth and prevailed two innings later, having seen Jonathan Gonzalez-Perez belt a home run and get three RBIs as Zach Balduzzi and Jordan Dippold also drove in runs.
Solvay now challenged Cazenovia on Friday afternoon and overcame an early deficit in a hurry before hanging on late to beat those other Lakers 6-5.
A brief 1-0 advantage briefly disappeared when Cazenovia struck for four runs in the top of the third off Anthony Berry, but the Bearcats quickly answered, tying it 4-4 in the third and scoring twice an inning later to lead 6-4.
Both Gonzalez-Perez and Sam Gonzalez got a pair of RBIs, with Berry earning two hits and an RBI and Dan Mrowinski also driving in a run.
Up 6-4, Solvay got a scoreless inning of relief from Max Overend before Gonzalez-Perez gave up a run in the seventh, but was able to earn the final outs.
Westhill had built a 13-2 record before a narrow May 14 defeat to Homer. Then it lost again last Tuesday as Christian Brothers Academy took out the Warriors 8-3.
Three runs in the bottom of the third inning briefly erased a 2-0 Brothers lead as Mike Madigan got an RBI, Geoff Daniul had three hits and Aiden Kerr two hits, both of them scoring runs.
CBA answered, though, with five runs in the top of the fifth off Madigan and reliever Ryan Campbell, going in front for good. Teck Nash’s home run was part of an effort that included two RBIs apiece from Luke Boule and Jack Landau.
Marcellus, meanwhile, lost 6-2 to Homer last Thursday despite Rbis from Francesconi and Johnson before it bounced back Friday to beat Chittenango 11-5 to improve to 9-10 overall.
In its win over the Bears, an eight-run fifth inning helped to overcome a 4-2 deficit, Sullivan belting a home run as he got three hits and two RBIs. Dan Mitchell, Ryder Donahue and Liam Goldsworthy also drove in runs.
When the sectional Class B playoff brackets were revealed, the area’s four teams had four separate games to consider, but also a tantalizing possibility.
If no. 3 seed Westhill knocks off no. 14 seed Chittenango and Skaneateles, the no. 6 seed, ousts no. 11 seed Lowville, the quarterfinal would bring the Warriors and Lakers together, three years after their epochal 14-inning sectional final in 2019.
Solvay sits as the no. 7 seed, hosting no. 10 seed Phoenix, a tough opening game as Marcellus, from its no. 12 seed, needs to win at no. 5 seed Holland Patent to earn a quarterfinal berth against Homer or Bishop Grimes.
