CENTRAL NEW YORK – One quirk of the 2023-24 school year in Central New York was that the spring school break in April did not immediately follow Easter.
Thus, high school baseball teams were expected to fully get underway last week at home, counting on the weather to behave – which it did not, rains starting on Tuesday continuing through a majority of the week.
It cleared out by Saturday afternoon, when Bishop Ludden, who had three games postponed earlier in the week, played a season opener against Central Square that the Gaelic Knights won 8-7 in remarkable fashion.
Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Ludden trailed 7-2, having seen the Redhawks jump out 4-0 in the first inning, chase starter Joe Dunham in the fourth and then, up 5-2, tack on two more runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Greg Purdy.
Then the Gaelic Knights’ bats roared to life in the bottom of the seventh, a series of hits producing four runs to make it 7-6. Then, to cap it off, eighth-grader Brandon Burch, in just his second varsity at-bat, singled home the tying and winning runs.
Prior to that, Ludden had managed just four hits overall, but Joe Dunham, Tim Dunham, Andrew Pullano, Jimmy Westers and Mike Masterpole each got credit for an RBI.
Before this, it was dry enough last Monday to have Skaneateles get into the win column when, facing Bishop Grimes/Manlius Pebble Hill, it prevailed 10-3.
Rebounding from its 10-7 defeat to Cazenovia on March 28, the Lakers fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning, only to have pitchers Colton McDonald (four innings), Declan Pfau (2 1/3 innings) and Sean Olley (2/3 inning) blank the Cobras the rest of the way and only allow a single hit.
A four-run third inning was followed by a three-run fourth and two-run fifth. Hugh Carroll had three hits and Olley two hits as they both scored three times. Keelen Marren and Eric Michel both got a pair of RBIs, with Torin Bennett and Frank Ambrosie also driving in runs.
As that went on, Marcellus opened its season against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and took a 7-3 defeat to the Red Devils.
In the bottom of the first, the Mustangs grabbed a 3-0 lead as Ethan Dilmore and Elijah Eaton both drove in runs. From there, though, VVS pitcher Cohen Cosimino blanked Marcellus, only surrendering three hits overall, two of them to Max Chapman.
Gavin Foy started on the mound for the Mustangs and cruised until the fourth, when the Red Devils erupted for four runs to go in front, adding three more runs in the sixth and seventh.
Rebounding Saturday on the turf at Onondaga Community College, Marcellus topped Onondaga Central 8-3, breaking out of a 2-2 tie with a run in the fifth but winning it with a five-run rally in the top of the seventh.
Dilmore, with three RBIs, led the lineup, with Dakota Wilson scoring three times. Champan, Gavin Foy and Tyler Mattison had one RBI apiece as Nick Evans pitched four inning to earn the win, though he and Eaton combined to allow 12 walks.
Jordan-Elbridge also played last Monday, falling 3-0 to Port Byron to fall to 0-2 overall, the Eagles managing just two hits, one each from Gage Davey and Shannon Ahern.
Single runs in the first, third and fifth innings proved enough for the Panthers, Trevor Applebee driving in two of those runs as Connor Usowski pitched a gem, only allowing those two hits and baffling J-E batters on his way to 16 strikeouts.
Solvay had a shutout, too, in its season opener, a 10-0 defeat to Cortland, who has won 35 games each of the past two seasons and was the 2022 sectional Class A champions.
The Bearcats got just two hits off Purple Tigers pitcher Ethan Johnson, one each by Landon Raymond and Jonah Draper. Max Overend took the loss, surrendering 13 hits to Cortland, Johnson also getting three RBIs as Cal Albright and Robbie Atkins each drove in a pair of runs.
