In the cold, wet transition from April to May, the Baldwinsville baseball team found itself in a slump.
That was a less than ideal situation for which to face West Genesee, the leaders in the SCAC Metro division. The Bees would have to face WG twice in wildly different conditions, and struggled on both occasions.
One came in last Tuesday’s trip to Camillus, where the Wildcats, improving to 11-1 overall, did all of its damage in the early innings and defeated the Bees 10-4.
A three-run first inning got WG in front, and it added a run in the second before a six-run third chased B’ville starting pitcher Colin Ray. Jacob Severson led the Wildcats with a double and three RBIs.
After Alex Curry finished the third, Joey Warner and Caleb Way pitched three scoreless innings, but the 10-0 deficit was too much to overcome, the Bees shut out until the seventh and held by Wildcats pitcher Landyn Shaw to six hits, two each by Braden Seeber and Josh Leonard.
Contrasting the cold, damp conditions early in the week was Saturday’s bright sunshine as B’ville was back home for a rematch against the Wildcats, which promised quite a pitcher’s duel – but instead, turned into another frustrating effort for the Bees in a 10-1 defeat.
The Bees sent its hard-throwing senior, Gavin Miller against WG’s freshman sensation, Colin Crinnin, who had gone 4-0 so far this spring, but Miller never made it out of the top of the second.
Two hit batsmen, three walks and two wild pitched brought home a pair of Wildcats runs, and even after Reid Rachwal replaced Miller, WG added four more runs – all told, six runs, with just a single hit.
This, along with a three-run third inning, was plenty for Crinnin, who kept the Bees off the board until Casey Collins’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth.
In between those games was a Friday trip to Rochester’s Innovative Field where, against Section V’s McQuaid, Aidan Milburn was sensational on the mound and the Bees blanked the Knights 7-0.
Over five innings, Milburn recorded six strikeouts and only allowed one hit, plus three walks. Joey Warner and Ben Leaton did the rest, each tossing a scoreless inning of relief.
Most of B’ville’s runs came early as it scored twice in the first inning and four times in the second. Seeber doubled twice and drove in a run, with Jason Ouellette adding a double and two RBIs as Miller and Joey Gennariao also drove in runs.
At 7-6 overall following the second defeat to WG, B’ville goes through a third game with the Wildcats on Wednesday at Onondaga Community College in between two against Fayetteville-Manlius and a Saturday visit from reigning sectional Class B champion Westhill.
