CENTRAL NEW YORK – What the Baldwinsville baseball team has already demonstrated is an ability to limit an opponent’s production and getting just what it needs to pull out close victories.
The Bees relied on this again in last Monday’s game against long-time rival West Genesee, getting key contributions from veterans and newcomers to prevail 2-1 and hand the Wildcats its first defeat of the season.
Tyler Hawthorne singled and scored in the bottom of the first inning, and it remained 1-0 for a while, Ben Leaton pitching four shutout innings and WG’s Talon Eakins matching those zeroes.
Not until the top of the sixth did the Wildcats pull even against reliever Nate Georger as Ryan Saroney doubled and scored on Luis Garcia’s single to tie it 1-1, but B’ville answered in the bottom of the sixth off Charlie Searle.
Joey Gennario drew a walk, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch and raced home on freshman Anderson Tuten’s single. Georger then got the final three outs, having combined with Leaton to limit the Wildcats to four hits while gaining six strikeouts.
At Fulton 24 hours later, the Bees displayed a far different side of itself, scoring six runs in the second inning and putting together a 12-run outburst in the fifth on the way to smashing the Red Dragons 22-2.
Though helped by Fulton’s seven errors, almost everyone in B’ville’s lineup contributed. No less than 14 players drove in at least one run, with Jace Albero leading the way thanks to a double, two walks and four RBIs.
Three others – Tuten, Hawthorne and Nico Wellman – got two RBIs apiece. Albero, Jacob Penafeather and Casey Collins each scored three runs as Jason Oullette and Luke Revette pitched three innings of no-hit relief following Joey Warner’s solid start.
Following a rainout of Friday’s game with Fayetteville-Manlius, it dried up for Saturday and a visit from Rome Free Academy, who withstood a B’ville comeback and, with a late run, prevailed 5-4 over the Bees.
A three-run third inning pushed the Black Knights in front. Battling back, B’ville netted single runs in the third and fifth and, after RFA made it 4-2, tied it in the bottom of the sixth.
It didn’t take long, though, for the Black Knights to reclaim the lead with a run in the top of the seventh, and it got the final three outs to put a halt to B’ville’s four-game win streak.
Five different pitchers saw action for the Bees, with Shane Wellman going 2 2/3 innings and Alex Curry two innings. B’ville managed just three hits, two of them by Georger, who combined with Joey Gennario to drive in all four of the team’s runs.
B’ville was set to be home again early next week for games against Central Square and Oswego before taking on Westhill Friday night on the turf at Onondaga Community College.
