ONONDAGA COUNTY – Many times in post-seasons past, the Baldwinsville baseball team found itself locked in battle with West Genesee, more often than not ending up on top.
Now the Bees found itself a clear underdog head into Tuesday’s Section III Class AA quarterfinal in Camillus, having lost three times this spring to the top-seeded Wildcats.
When it mattered the most, though, B’ville came out on top.
The Bees’ 7-6 win not only thwarted WG’s hopes of a first sectional title since 1977, it displayed all of the qualities the team had only provided glimpses of while going 8-11 .
Unlike each of the previous three encounters in the regular season, B’ville got the jump, netting two runs off Wildcats pitcher Colin Crinnin in the top of the first inning, driven in by Nico Wellman and Reid Rachwal.
Initially, WG shook this off and, with a run in the first and three runs in the second, grabbed a 4-2 edge. Then came the top of the fourth.
The big rally which had eluded the Bees so much in April and May arrived here, a five-run outburst. Aiden Milburn’s bases-loaded, two-run single tied it 4-4, then Wellman delivered his own two-run single and Rachwal also got an RBI.
Now leading 7-4, B’ville gave that margin to Milburn, who pitched one more inning before sophomore Ben Leaton came in to relieve in the fifth.
Chipping away, the Wildcats netted single runs in the fifth and sixth to move within one. However, Leaton, a call-up from the JV ranks in mid-season, blanked WG in the bottom of the seventh to send the Bees to the sectional semifinal against Liverpool, set for Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Onondaga Community College.
Milburn, aside from his pitching, was the only Bees player with two hits as he and Josh Leonard both scored twice.
Getting to this game required B’ville to knock off no. 9 seed Rome Free Academy in Monday’s opening round, and the Bees did so, bashing its way past the Black Knights 8-1.
Gavin Miller got the start on the mound, and the highly-touted pitcher went six innings, limiting RFA to five hits while earning eight strikeouts before Nate Georger worked the seventh inning in relief.
By then, B’ville had a comfortable lead, Josh Leonard leading the way as he went three-for-four with a double, two singles and two RBIs. Braden Seeber also drove in a run as Leonard and Miller both scored twice.
