Armed with a 2-2 early-season record, the Cazenovia baseball team made its way back to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where over the course of the spring break it would meet both local opposition and fellow Section III travelers.
The traveling sides included reigning sectional Class AA champion Liverpool, who engaged in a back-and-forth classic with the Lakers last Monday afternoon before the Warriors emerged to prevail 7-6.
Mostly thanks to a three-run fourth inning, the Lakers were up 4-1 before Liverpool struck for five runs in the bottom of the fifth off Cazenovia pitcher Izaak Gilbert.
The Lakers tied it, 6-6, in the top of the sixth, but a run in the bottom of the sixth gave the Warriors the lead for good and Jameson Stevens, pitching 2 1/3 innings in relief of Chris Baker, got the final outs. Tyler Vivacqua earned three hits as Austin Burch and Dylan Wiggins drove in two runs apiece.
Robby Livingston singled and drove in two runs. Joey Awald got two hits and an RBI, with Jack Donlin, Danny Bliss and Jake Hightchew also getting RBIs as Tyler Vivacqua’s three hits paced Liverpool.
More excitement followed in Tuesday’s game against Elmira Notre Dame, only here the Lakers were the ones emerging victorious, prevailing 7-6 in eight innings.
They traded runs until the bottom of the sixth, when Cazenovia scored twice to break out of a 2-2 tie, only to have Elmira Notre Dame get four runs in the top of the seventh and chase Donlin, who to that point had earned 11 strikeouts.
But the Lakers fought back and, in the bottom of the seventh, tied it 6-6. Then, with two out in the bottom of the eighth, Bliss, who had pitched a scoreless frame to keep it tied, won it with a single that scored Nico Segall.
Taven Reilley had got things going with an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the first as he added two other hits. Hightchew went three-for-four and joined Awald in the RBI column.
The week ended with Cazenovia taking a 15-0 defeat to Cherry Hill West (New Jersey), who used a 10-run third inning to get away. Donlin’s first-inning triple was the lone Lakers hit.
One of the best players in Cazenovia history, Jack Byrnes, is continuing his success at Hobart College, where he was just named Liberty League Rookie of the Week, hitting .429 in three starts and having two scoreless stints on the mound as the Statesmen won four of five games to move above the .500 mark to 15-12.
Chittenango played twice last Monday at Gutchess Field in Cortland, finally getting into the win column while splitting a pair of close contests.
The Bears edged the Solvay Bearcats 5-4, and it required a comeback. All of Solvay’s runs came in the first innings, and it still led 4-1 when Chitenango turned it around.
Two runs in the sixth cut the margin to 4-3, and the Bears added the tying and winning runs in the seventh. Andrew Kielbasa led the comeback with a single, double and two RBIs, while A.J. Valente and Micah Schiralli also drove in runs. Kyle Peryer pitched and shut out Solvay over the course of the last five innings, earning nine strikeouts.
It looked like the Bears would get the sweep when it led East Syracuse Minoa 7-1 through four innings, only to see the Spartans make it all the way back and prevail 8-7.
Two runs in the fifth, a run in the sixth and a four-run rally in the top of the seventh erased Chittenango’s lead built up by two hits from Eli Lefort and two RBIs from Mason Corlis. Valente, Drew Thomas and Evan Tianello also drove in runs.
Then Chittenango ran into Mexico on Wednesday and were no-hit by Tigers sophomore ace Carson Race. In the 5-0 defeat, Cooper Smith drew a pair of walks and Schiralli also walked, but Race contained the Bears otherwise, striking out six.
