CENTRAL NEW YORK – A season full of immense promise for the West Genesee baseball team had turned into something quite different by the time the Section III Class AA playoffs rolled around.
All through May, the close games the Wildcats won earlier this spring were getting away, and it happened again last Tuesday when first-place Cicero-North Syracuse came to Camillus and prevailed by a 2-1 margin.
A first-inning run by the Northstars held up for a while as the game’s only tally. Wyatt Braun, pitching for WG, would throw a complete game, striking out eight and only surrendering four hits.
C-NS pitcher Casey Gunnip went 5 2/3 innings and limited the Wildcats to three hits and three walks. Then the Northstars added a run in the top of the seventh to make it 2-0.
That proved important when, in the bottom of the seventh, Eric Korzeniewski drove home Aidan Leaf, but relief pitcher Battista Wood was able to pick up the final out.
A day later, Ryan Klementowski made his last start before the playoffs and, reinforcing his status as WG’s ace, shut down Fayetteville-Manlius in a 4-0 Wildcats victory.
Klementowski gave up just three hits and one walk, striking out seven and getting all the support he needed when the Wildcats got to Hornets pitcher Max Danaher for single runs in the third and fourth innings.
A two-run sixth doubled the margin as Klementowski drove in a run, as did Dan Flaherty, Jake DePalma and Vince Firenze. Leaf, Luis Suarez and Landon Spencer scored runs.
WG now faced Baldwinsville on Thursday at Onondaga Community College, and after splitting two previous games with the Bees ,the Wildcats emerged on top here, prevailing by a score of 7-3.
Eric Korzeniewski was quite effective on the mound, going six innings and only allowing three hits, two of them by Aidan Miller, but it took a while for WG to get control.
Tied 1-1, the Wildcats struck for three runs in the bottom of the fourth, adding single tallies in the next two innings. DePalma had two RBIs, with Firenze adding a single, triple and RBI as Leaf annd Jacob Severson also drove in runs.
At Bishop Ludden, the signals were mixed going into the post-season as it put up quite a fight in last Tuesday’s game against 10-3 Weedsport before falling in eight innings to the Warriors 9-7.
The Gaelic Knights led 5-2 through two innings, and still were up 6-3 when Weedsport used a run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to tie it, then broke that 6-6 tie with three runs in the top of the eighth.
Despite a run in the bottom of the eighth, Ludden could not catch up, seeing Joe Dunham go three-for-five with two RBIs. Tim Dunham and Peter Dunham drove in one run apiece.
Ludden lost again on Wednesday to Central Square 12-5, with a four-run third inning putting the Redhawks ahead for good.
Mike Masterpole recorded a pair of hits, with Andrew Pullano, Patrick Towsley, Tim Dunham and Peter Dunham each driving in a run. Richard Fleischman got three RBIs to lead Central Square.
Ludden didn’t even get on the board in Thursday’s 5-0 defeat to Port Byron, held to five hits by Panthers pitcher Connor Usowski, three of them by Joey Adamo. Port Byron got a run in third off Peter Dunham, then scored three times in the fifth and once in the sixth to get away as Eli Jarabek and Kody Kurtz each got two RBIs.
When Ludden faced 17-1 Beaver River on Saturday, it lost 9-3 to the Beavers, who scored in five consecutive innings starting in the top of the second. The Gaelic Knights managed just three hits overall.
Ludden could meet Beaver River again if the Gaelic Knights, seeded no. 10 in the sectional Class C playoffs, wins its opening-round game over no. 7 seed Tully and the no. 2 seed Beavers knock off West Canada Valley.
WG’s win over B’ville pushed it to a no. 2 seed in Class AA and Tuesday’s quarterfinal against. 7 seed Syracuse City. The winner gets the Bees or Liverpool Thursday in the semifinal at Onondaga Community College.
