CENTRAL NEW YORK – A superb regular season by the West Genesee baseball team came to an unexpected conclusion at home on Tuesday afternoon, which was not how anyone in Camillus had planned it.
Even with the top seed, and even with the confidence gained from three regular-season victories, the top-seeded Wildcats fell 7-6 to no. 8 seed Baldwinsville in the Section III Class AA quarterfinals.
Unlike each of the three times it topped the Bees in the regular season, WG saw B’ville get the jump, netting two runs off Wildcats pitcher Colin Crinnin in the top of the first inning.
Initially, WG answered 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 where B’ville scored five times, chasing Crinnin as Nico Wellman and Aidan Milburn both drove in two runs.
Chipping away, the Wildcats netted single runs in the fifth and sixth to move within one, Charlie Searle and Talon Elkins pitching 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
However, Ben Leaton, who relieved Milburn for B’ville, blanked WG in the bottom of the seventh to send the Bees to the sectional semifinal against Liverpool.
The Wildcats had just five hits overall, two of them by Jacob Severson, who joined Ryan Saroney and Vince Firenze in the RBI column as Elkins scored twice.
Nearby, Bishop Ludden started out as the top seed in the Class C sectional tournament and breezed past no. 16 seed Thousand Islands 13-0 to advance to a quarterfinal against Mount Markham.
A six-run second inning got the Gaelic Knights in front, Joey Adamo ultimately going three-for-four as Greg Purdy and Andrew Pullano had two RBIs apiece. Mike Masterpole scored three runs as Joe Dunham, who also had two RBIs, pitched five scoreless inning, striking out eight and only allowing three hits.
Far from this, a quartet of area teams made their way into the Section III Class B playoffs, with Westhill as the no. 2 seed and aiming to repeat its 2022 title run.
In last Tuesday’s second round, Westhill hosted no. 15 seed Mexico, who had ousted Marcellus 5-4 in the opening round the day before, and pushed here, too, before Westhill prevailed by a 6-2 margin, advancing to the quartefinals where it will face Lowville.
The Tigers struck for a first-inning run, only to have Westhill answer with three in the bottom of the first. After Mexico cut it to 3-2 in the top of the third, Westhill again responded, scoring twice in that frame to make it 5-2.
Ryan Campbell struck out eight and limited Mexico to five hits while pitching a complete game. Anthony Sampo drove in a pair of runs as Taden Chester scored twice, RBIs also going to Mike Madigan and Aiden Ryan.
Meanwhile, Skaneateles held the no. 9 seed and met no. 8 seed Homer at Gutchess Field, the Lakers able to pull out a 5-3 victory over the Trojans to earn a quarterfinal game against unbeaten top seed South Jefferson.
The Lakers fell behind 3-0 in the first inning, but from there pitcher Ben Underhill blanked Homer, striking out seven and only surrendering four hits in a complete-game effort.
A run in the second and three runs in the third got Skaneateles in front, with a fifth-inning run tacked on as Casey Kenan and Keelan Maren both scored twice, the Lakers taking advantage of seven Trojans errors.
It was Solvay who, as the no. 16 seed, would try and upend South Jefferson in that same round, only to get shut out, 10-0, by the Spartans and finish its season at 9-12.
The Bearcats had just three hits off South Jefferson ace Jack Buckingham. The Spartans got to a 5-0 lead through two innings and doubled that margin in the fifth as Cameron Cappetta took the loss and Jacob Bigelow pitched in relief.
Before this, Solvay had ousted no. 17 seed Phoenix 7-1, a game it trailed, 1-0, until striking for five runs in the bottom of the fifth and tacking on two runs an inning later.
Max Overend’ went the distance and held the Firebirds to three hits while recording eight strikeouts. Aaron Trendell went four-for-four with a double and two RBIs. Overend, Jordan Dippold and Sam Gonzalez also drove in runs.
