CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though away from the large limelight, a few area high school baseball teams still had important work to do in order to establish their status as eventual league and sectional title contenders.
For West Genesee, it involved back-to-back games against reigning sectional Class AA champion Liverpool, the first of them on Friday and the rematch on Tuesday afternoon in Camillus.
The road game came first, and WG prevailed 9-2, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit by scoring in four consecutive innings starting in the top of the third.
Talon Elkins homered as he and Joe Cavello both got three RBIs to lead the attack. Jason Clifton scored twice and Nick Meluni added an RBI as Ryan Tabaczyk pitched six strong innings to earn the win.
Back on Monday, WG had what amounted to a Class AA playoff preview at Fayetteville-Manlius and handled the Hornets 10-3.
Three-run rallies in the third, fifth and seventh innings made the difference. Meluni and Luke Alfieri led with three hits apiece, while Elkins, Landyn Shaw and Jacob Severson had two RBIs apiece. Elkins’ pitching stint was a solid one as he went five innings and struck out seven before Shaw worked the last two innings.
Three games in as many days opened up May, WG meeting Baldwinsville Wednesday at Onondaga Community College after the Bees prevailed 2-1 in their first encounter on April 15.
Barely two weeks later, the Wildcats again fell to the Bees, 7-5, in a 10-inning epic where, down 4-1, it had rallied to force extra frames by scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth.
Yet B’ville broke that 4-4 tie with three runs in the top of the 10th, and despite a WG run in the bottom of the 10th, it could not fully answer.
Charlie Searle pitched 3 1/3 innings after Crinnin started and, in 5 2/3 innings, struck out six. Severson did all he could, going three-for-four with a triple, two singles, three RBIs and two runs scored. Luis Garcia and Jason Clifton also drove in runs.
Playing at NBT Bank Stadium Thursday night as part of the annual Strike Out Lou Gehrig’s Disease Classic, WG met Oswego and, despite getting out-hit 9-8, rolled to an 11-2 win over the Buccaneers.
Elkins’s pair of hits included a triple, with Clifton adding a single and double as Severson joined Elkins with two RBIs. Meluni, Shaw, Crinnin and Alfieri also drove in runs as Shaw went 6 2/3 innings on the mound, striking out nine.
In Saturday’s 5-3 loss to Victor (Section V), WG, down 2-0, scored three times in the bottom of the fourth on hits from Severson and Garcia, only to see the Blue Devils pull It out with its own three-run rally in the top of the seventh.
Two other local sides, Skaneateles and Solvay, began a series last Tuesday with the Lakers rallying for a 7-5 victory over the Bearcats.
Skaneateles led 4-0 through four innings, but Solvay tied it in the fifth and went ahead 5-4 in the top of the sixth led by Max Overend’s three hits as he, along with A.J. Trendell, Sawyer Stewart, Jacob Bigelow and Cameron Cappetta, drove in runs.
But it was the Lakers with the last surge, scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth before McKendell Sweeney got the final three outs. Keelan Maren had two hits and two RBIs, with Sean Olley and Torin Bennett also driving in runs.
The Thursday rematch at Solvay was far more lopsided as Skaneateles rolled 16-3, using seven runs in the top of the fourth to break a 1-1 tie adding an eight-run sixth.
Olley doubled, singled twice and set a career mark with five RBIs. Bennett’s pair of hits led to three RBIs as Shea Musso and Colton McDonald both drove in a pair of runs. Declan Pfau pitched five innings to earn the win.
Solvay played Bishop Grimes Wednesday and, despite surrendering three different leads, never trailed, and moved in front for good with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat the Cobras 9-6.
Chris Cappetta went three-for-three, scored three times and added an RBI, and also got the final three outs in relief of Bigelow, who pitched 5 2/3 innings. Overend and Trendell each had two hits and two RBIs.
Marcellus could not get on the board in an 8-0 defeat to Phoenix. Firebirds pitching ace Ty Corey kept his team undefeated, amassing 15 strikeouts while limiting the Mustangs to two hits, one each by Gavin Foy and Elijah Eaton. A 4-2 defeat to Central Valley Academy followed on Saturday despite strong pitching by Gavin Mumford, two hits from Tyler Mattison and an RBI from Eaton.
Jordan-Elbridge played last Wednesday and lost, 9-6, to Cato-Meridian, this despite Nolan Brunelle going four-for-four with an RBI as Hunter LaBarge scored a pair of runs, but it rebounded Friday to beat Hannibal 8-7 for its second win of the season.
