CENTRAL NEW YORK – Given the controversial way in which last spring’s Section III Class AA semifinal against West Genesee concluded, the Baldwinsville baseball team carried ample motivation into the 2023 season.
To start with, the Bees took a spring-break trip to Florida, where it visited and practiced at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex inside Walt Disney World, among other activities.
Then, returning home, the Bees found warm weather good enough to move up a game with defending sectional champion Fayetteville-Manlius that was originally scheduled for May 18.
No one loved this more than Aidan Milburn, who starred both on the mound and at the plate in the course of B’ville’s 6-3 victory over the Hornets.
B’ville was steady, notching two runs in the first inning and single runs in each of the next three frames to build a 5-0 edge before F-M scored twice in the bottom of the fourth.
Milburn would smash a home run, add a double and get three RBIs in addition to the 4 1/3 innings he pitched, allowing five hits and striking out six.
Reid Rachwal worked the last 2 2/3 innings of relief to go with driving in a run. Braden Seeber went three-for-three as he and Gavin Miller also earned RBIs.
This was the Bees’ second game of the season, following last Tuesday’s opener at Central Square where, with a late scoring surge, it beat the Redhawks 9-2.
Central Square contained B’ville early and led 1-0 through four innings. But the Bees broke through with two runs in the top of the fifth and added seven more runs in the next two innings to get away.
Milburn was unstoppable at the plate, going five-for-five, scoring twice and driving in a pair of runs. Seeber had a single, double and three RBIs, while Josh Leonard and Jacob Penafeather also drove in runs.
Miller pitched four innings before Colin Ray took over late, working the last three innings for the win. Combined, the pair had 11 strikeouts and only allowed four hits.
All of this gave the Bees ample momentum heading into a week where, weather permitting, it would face Liverpool twice and then go to Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday before hosting Syracuse City on Saturday.
