CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even as the Westhill baseball team streaked out to an 8-0 start, it kept close tabs on the similar work done by Cazenovia, the team it beat in the 2022 Section III Class B final.
This made last Thursday’s head-to-head meeting at the Sean Googin Sports Complex even more important – and it turned out to be a showcase for junior Ryan Campbell.
All that Campbell did in Westhill’s 8-0 victory was throw a no-hitter, surrendering just two walks while accmulating 13 strikeouts and constantly frustrating the Lakers’ lineup.
For a long while, it was close, Cazenovia pitcher Jack Donlin giving up unearned runs in the first and third inningx. But once Donlin was removed due to his pitch count, Westhill pounced, netting six runs in the top of the seventh as Luke Pickett led the attack with three hits and three RBIs.
Tuning up for Cazenovia, Westhill beat Mexico 13-3 last Tuesday for its eighth win in a row, with Pickett’s pair of singles leading to four RBIs as Taden Chester and Trey Dillobaugh drove in two runs apiece.
Then came a rematch Wednesday at NBT Bank Stadium with Homer, whom Westhill had to rally to beat April 13 and, less than two weeks later, had to do so again for an 8-2 victory over the Trojans.
A pair of third-inning runs had Homer in front 2-1, but Westhill tied it in the fourth and then batted around in the bottom of the fifth, plating six decisive runs.
Dillobaugh doubled and earned three RBIs as Chester scored twice, all in support of Mike Madigan, who only surrendered one hit and two walks, striking out 11 in his complete-game effort.
Back on Monday, Solvay rolled past Onondaga 18-5 with multiple runs in five straight innings, including a five-run third and seven-run fifth. In all, the Bearcats produced 15 hits as it moved above the .500 mark again.
Marcellus played a day later and lost, 7-3, to Bishop Grimes, the Cobras never trailing after scoring four runs in the bottom of the first.
Then Solvay beat Hannibal 10-1, Max Overend pitching a complete game with 14 strikeouts and just four hits allowed. Jordan Dippold got three hits at the plate as he, along with Aaron Trendell and Jaylen King, had two RBIs apiece.
Skaneateles hosted unbeaten Christian Brothers Academy last Thursday and erased a big early deficit, only to see the Brothers still pull it out by an 8-6 margin.
A five-run second inning by CBA followed a run in the first and produced a 6-0 lead but Skaneateles erased all of it in the bottom of the third, tying it 6-6 as Carter Corbett’s bases-clearing triple was the big blow, though Patrick Herr, Cal Anna and Hugh Carroll also drove in runs.
But in the top of the fifth, the Brothers scored twice and held on from there, led by Mike Giamartino’s single, double and four RBIs. Nate Shattuck took the loss, with Cade Lamphere and Ben Underhill also seeing mound stints.
