CENTRAL NEW YORK – As they got set for the Section III Class AA playoffs, Fayetteville-Manlius again found itself with a low seed and the pressure on others, including Christian Brothers Academy, to get to the top.
Ironically, the path could bring those two teams together. CBA, as the no. 2 seed, will meet F-M in the quarterfinals if the no. 10 seed Hornets get past no. 7 seed Syracuse City in Monday’s opening round.
Before this, the Brothers had quite a final week of the regular season, capped last Thursday when it hosted Westhill and, against the 17-1 reigning sectional Class B champions, rolled to a 5-1 victory.
Not wasting time, CBA got three runs off Westhill ace Ryan Campbell in the bottom of the first inning, then tacked on single runs in the fourth and sixth as Mike Giamartino got a pair of RBIs, with Jack Landau, Tom Leskoske and Ethan Harris also driving in runs.
But pitcher Casey Vaughn didn’t need much support. In 5 2/3 innings, he held the potent Westhill lineup to two hits, striking out seven before Leskoske got the last four outs in relief.
CBA, off a week where it lost three times (to West Genesee, Cazenovia and Liverpool), began to rebound by beating Solvay 9-3 last Monday afternoon.
They were tied, 3-3, but the Brothers, who scored once in each of the first three innings, took charge with a three-run fourth and added three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Landau hit his third home run of the season, finishing with three RBIs. Luke Boule went four-for-four and scored twice as Harris got two RBIs and Leskoske threw a complete game, striking out 12.
Even more impressive was what it did a day later at Falcon Park, getting a superb pitching performance from Boule and timely hits that delivered a 5-0 victory over Auburn.
All game long, Maroons hitters were baffled by Boule, who surrendered just five hits while accumulating 11 strikeouts and working until Vaughn picked up the final out.
Auburn’s Lucas West equaled Boule until the top of the sixth, when CBA struck for three runs, adding two more in the seventh as Harris and Giamartino each got a pair of RBIs and Landau drove in the other run while getting two hits and scoring twice.
Yet another tremendous pitching performance was delivered by Ryan Petrie in Wednesday’s 3-0 shutout of Baldwinsville, Petrie allowing five hits but striking out nine.
It stayed 0-0 until the fourth, when CBA pushed across two runs against Bees pitcher Aidan Milburn. The Brothers added another in the fifth as Boule had a solo home run and Will Harrigan got a pair of hits. Petrie and Landau both joined Boule in the RBI column.
Bishop Grimes took a close 3-2 defeat to Central Square last Monday, the Cobras unable to hold 1-0 and 2-1 leads as the Redhawks scored twice in the bottom of the sixth after Grimes had taken a 2-1 advantage.
Bruno Kinsey, who pitched and took the loss, had three of the Cobras’ five hits. Dante Piraino earned an RBI as he and Tristan Mancari drove in Grimes’ runs
Then Grimes suffered a 5-3 defeat to Homer last Tuesday afternoon, the Cobras falling behind 4-0 in the first three innings but nearly making it back.
The Cobras struck for three runs in the top of the fifth, two coming home on Jon Farstler’s single, another on Tristan Mancari’s single. Yet Homer tacked on a run in the sixth off Will Markwood, who struck out seven in his 5 2/3 innings on the mound, and held on from there.
The skid ended Thursday with the Cobras beating Phoenix 6-2, scoring in four of the first five innings and accumulating nine hits to the Firebirds’ four.
A day later, Grimes routed Hannibal 15-1, getting all of its runs in the first four innings and earning 14 hits to move its overall record to 9-8 as it gained the no. 13 seed in the Class B sectional tournament, playing no. 20 seed Holland Patent Monday hoping to advance to the next round Tuesday against no. 4 seed Cortland.
