CENTRAL NEW YORK – Should the West Genesee baseball team meet Christian Brothers Academy at some point in the Section III Class AA playoffs, it will take plenty of confidence into that matchup.
That’s because the Wildcats went to CBA Monday and, with strong relief pitching and timely rallies, prevailed 6-4, giving the 10-0 Brothers its first defeat of the season.
Wasting little time, WG struck for three runs in the top of the first inning, one scoring on Cameron Noce’s single and two more on Landon Spencer’s bases-loaded single.
CBA countered with three runs in the bottom of the third, chasing Wildcats starter Landyn Shaw, but Jason Clifton took over and, settling down, blanked the Brothers over the next four innings.
Meanwhile, WG inched in front 4-3 in the third as Jacob Severson reached on a force play, stole second, went to third on a groundout and raced home as Noce beat out a throw from deep second.
Two more runs followed in the top of the fifth on Anthony Augello’s sacrifice fly and a clutch two-out single from Joe Cavallo, making it 5-2. Those runs would provide the winning margin.
Clifton lasted until Jack Landau’s solo home run in the fifth. Then Charlie Searle took over in the sixth and threw two scoreless innings of relief, only allowing hit and getting Mike Giamartino on a lineout with the tying run on base to end it.
WG now turned its attention to a bigger cause – promoting mental health awareness – in a joint event with Baldwinsville Wednesday night at Onondaga Community College sponsored by Morgan’s Message.
As to the game, the Wildcats won it 3-1 largely thanks to Talon Elkins, who pitched six solid innings and, after allowing a run in the top of the first, tied it on an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first.
WG then got a pair of runs in the third when Severson drove home Elkins and Vince Firenze, and Elkins, only giving up four hits overall, struck out nine before Searle struck out the side in the seventh for his second save of the week.
Moving to 15-1 on Thursday, WG handled Syracuse City 11-2 as freshman pitcher Colin Crinnin moved to 6-0 on the season, giving up four hits in five innings on the mound.
Again, Crinnin had lots of run support, the Wildcats scoring in five of the first six innings. Firenze tripled as he and Severson both got a pair of RBIs, with single runs driven home by Noce, Spencer and Gerard Shattell.
Elsewhere, Bishop Ludden won four times in as many days from May 3 to 6, but used most of its pitchers doing so and paid for it last Monday when it fell 7-5 to Central Square and saw its seven-game win streak end.
A two-run third and four-run fifth innings helped the Redhawks erase an early 2-0 Gaelic Knights lead. Joey Adamo and Joe Dunham still had two hits apiece, with Dunham and Parker Pichoske each driving in a pair of runs.
A day later, Ludden handled Cato-Meridian 7-1, getting six solid innings from Tim Dunham, who held the Blue Devils to five hits while walking three.
All of the Gaelic Knights’ runs came in the first four innings with three multiple-run rallies. Pichoske’s pair of singles led to two RBIs, with Nolan Feldt walking twice, singling and driving in a run.
Then, at Pulaski on Thursday afternoon, the Gaelic Knights rolled up 19 hits in an 11-1 victory, three of them by Feldt, who also pitched and amassed 15 strikeouts while holding the Blue Devils to three hits total.
Adamo went four-for-four with a triple, two doubles and a single, scoring three times. Joe Dunham’s pair of singles led to three RBIs as Greg Purdy, Spencer James, Tim Dunham, Andre Pullano and Tom Cervantes also drove in runs.
