ONONDAGA COUNTY – Whatever momentum the Baldwinsville baseball team may have carried from handing 15-0 Westhill its first defeat of the season on May 13 did not last long.
In fact, it dissipated in the first inning of last Tuesday’s game against Cicero-North Syracuse, who jumped in front early and then, through near-flawless pitching by Bryce Zicaro, defeated the Bees 6-0.
Once again, a slow start hurt B’ville as the Northstars touched up starting pitcher Ben Leaton for four runs in the top of the first inning, adding single runs in the second and fourth.
Zicaro didn’t need much help, though. All he allowed was a single to Reid Rachwal and walks to Caleb Way and Nico Wellman while earning eight strikeouts and also recording a pair of RBIs at the plate.
When these same two teams met again 24 hours later at the Gillette Road complex, B’ville put up plenty of runs, yet was once more on the wrong end of things, C-NS prevailing by a score of 12-8.
Runs in four consecutive innings, including a four-run second, contrasted the struggles the Bees had against Zicaro as it assumed an 8-4 lead by the top of the fifth.
Rachwal went three-for-four, doubling twice and scoring three times, while Jacob Penafeather scored twice. Gavin Miller doubled and drove in two runs as Gavin Seeber had a pair of RBIs. Logan McIntyre and Joey Genarrio also drove in runs.
All of this turned around when C-NS put across five runs in the fifth for a 9-8 advantage and tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth, the comeback led by Carter King and Mason Mingle with three RBIs apiece as Shacory Williams drove in two runs. Miller, Colin Ray and Joey Warner shared the Bees’ pitching duties.
B’ville would struggle in a different way on Wednesday against Christian Brothers Academy, unable to produce much against Brothers pitcher Ryan Petrie in a 3-0 defeat.
Petrie only surrendered five hits, all singles, one each by Wellman, Gennario, Seeber, Luca Beals and Aidan Milburn, and every time someone got on base Petrie worked out of it, finishing with eight strikeouts.
Milburn kept it 0-0 until CBA scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, adding another run in the fifth as Luke Boule’s solo home run provided one of those runs.
B’ville was able to close the regular season with a victory on Saturday, topping Oswego 11-6 as it erased an early 2-1 deficit with six runs in the bottom of the second, while six different pitchers saw action, none going more than Colin Ray’s two innings.
Braden Seeber led the way at the plate, going three-for-three with a double and two RBIs. Gavin Seeper tripled and drove in two runs, with Gavin Miller also earning a pair of RBIs and Josh Leonard scoring twice.
All of this left the Bees as the no. 8 seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs. On Monday, it hosts no. 9 seed Rome Free Academy in a first-round game, the winner to get to play top seed West Genesee in the quarterfinals a day later.
