CENTRAL NEW YORK – Scattered around during the April school break, area small-school baseball teams found success in some parts but also had full-blown challenges.
At first, Westhill continued its April tear last Monday afternoon, handling Bishop Grimes 8-1 in a game where patience got rewarded.
Only up 1-0 going to the bottom of the fifth inning, the Warriors broke out for five runs, chasing Cobras starting pitcher Frank Sgroi before it tacked on two more runs in the sixth.
Luke Pickett held Grimes to two hits and struck out nine in five innings on the mound. Antthony Sampo, Trey Dillabough and Kellen Pens netted three hits apiece for Westhill, Sampo and Pens each driving in two runs as Dillabough tripled and joined Mike Madigan, Taden Chester and Jonathan Murphy driving in single runs.
Things turned in Friday’s game against Baldwinsville at Onondaga Community College, where the Warriors saw a five-run lead get away in a 9-8 defeat to the Bees.
Westhill jumped out 5-0 in the first two innings, chasing starting pitcher Shane Wellman, but B’ville got a run in the third and then, in the top of the fourth inning, rocked Westhill starter Ryan Campbell in a seven-run outburst.
Even more important, though, was the run the Bees squeezed across in the top of the seventh. That made it 9-6, and was enough insurance because Westhill scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but could not tie it. Chester an Pens both had two RBIs, with Sampo scoring twice.
No Warriors player scored on Saturday in a 6-0 loss to Cicero-North Syracuse, who had pitcher Hunter Cokran hold Westhill to three hits while three-run rallies in the third and fifth innings gave the Northstars its winning cushion.
Playing at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the Ripken Experience tournament, Marcellus and Skaneateles faced one another last Tuesday, renewing their rivalry, and the Mustangs beat the Lakers 12-6.
Skaneateles got the jump with a four-run first inning, but Ethan Dilmore settled down, went 5 2/3 innings and watched Marcellus use two runs in the first and four runs in the fourth to make up the ground and tie it, 6-6.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs batted around and got six runs to win it. Gavin Foy led with three hits as he, along with Elijah Eaton and Dakota Wilson, drove in two runs apiece. Nick Evans, Gavin Mumford and Chris Loveless each scored twice as Keelan Maren led Skaneateles with two hits and two RBIs.
A day earlier, Marcellus lost 10-0 to Elmira Notre Dame (Section IV). Evans pitched four innings and took the loss, the Mustangs surrendering three runs in the first, third and fifth innings and getting just four hits overall.
Right after it beat Skaneateles, Marcellus struggled against Section I’s John Jay, taking a 16-0 defeat which included eight-run rallies in the third and fourth innings. Tyler Mattison was the Mustangs’ lone baserunner, drawing a walk.
A 5-3 defeat to Watertown followed on Wednesday, Marcellus going up 3-2 with a run in the third and two runs in the fourth, only to have the Cyclones score twice in the bottom of the fourth and add a sixth-inning insurance tally.
Foy, Dilmore and Max Champan had two hits apiece, with Mattison adding an RBI as Eaton (3 2/3 innings) and Foy (3 1/3 innings) split the pitching duties.
Solvay looked to be in good shape last Monday when it went to Gutchess Field and led Chittenango 4-0 in the top of the second, having seen Landon Raymond drive in two runs and A.J. Trendell get two hits as he and Jacob Bigelow also drove in runs.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth, when the Bears got two runs and Chased starter Max Overend. Then it scored the tying and winning runs off reliever Cameron Cappetta to pull out a 5-4 decision.
Two days later, Solvay lost 10-0 to Homer, only getting two hits (one each by Bigelow and Chris Cappetta) off Trojans pitcher Mitch Earle, who recorded 12 strikeouts. Bigelow also pitched, keeping it close until Homer got six runs in the top of the sixth.
A 4-1 defeat to Mexico followed on Thursday afternoon. Solvay had just three hits off Tigers pitcher Brayden Mack, who got 10 strikeouts and only allowed a single Bearcats run in the sixth.
Yet the Bearcats broke its skid on Friday when it shut out Onondaga 2-0 in a game on the OCC turf which improved Solvay’s overall record to 2-6.
