CENTRAL NEW YORK – Much of last Saturday’s baseball schedule was wiped out by rain, but not the Madison County showdown between Cazenovia and Chittenango on the Lakers’ turf field.
Technically, the Bears were the home side, but on its home field Cazenovia would prevail 4-2 to improve its overall record to 4-3-1, having still not won or lost two in a row this spring.
Neither team scored until the top of the fourth inning, when the Lakers got a run off Chittenango starter A.J. Valente. Then it tacked on two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth against Valente and reliever Alex Pappas.
Brock Duerr’s home run was the game’s big blow, Duerr earning a pair of RBIs as as Nico Segall tripled and scored, all of which produced a 4-0 lead before Evan Tianello’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth got the Bears on the board.
Danny Bliss saw his shutout broken up, but the Lakers pitcher had gone 5 2/3 innings only allowing three hits and striking out 10 before Segall picked up the last four outs in relief.
Before all this, Cazenovia and Chittenango found themselves at home challenged by Bishop Ludden, and neither would prevail.
In the Lakers’ case, the game last Thursday against the Gaelic Knights meant that it had to face pitching ace Joe Dunham, and they would find success at the plate quite elusive in a 10-0 defeat.
The game was close until the top of the fourth, when Ludden struck for eight runs chasting Cazenovia starter Max Nichiporuk as Segall and Duerr worked in relief.
Any runs were enough for Dunham, though, as he struck out 10 Lakers batters and only gave up two hits – a double by Segall and single by Bliss.
Back on Tuesday afternoon Chittenango lost 11-3 to Ludden, who used a five-run third inning to break the game open as Parker Pichoske, Luke Ruddy, Nick Brady and Jacob Sadowski had two RBIs apiece.
That was enough for pitcher Jimmy Westers, who held the Bears to a single hit in six innings and struck out. All of Chittenango’s runs came in the seventh inning after Westers left as Valente singled home two of those runs, which were scored by Zailor Caras, Mason Corlis and Alex Bertella.
This happened as Cazenovia was taking out Canastota 13-3, a game where an early 3-0 lead got away, but the Lakers went back in front for good in the fourth and used a six-run fifth inning to break it open.
Carter Bowden’s pair of singles led to a career-best five RBIs. Jake Hightchew singled, doubled and drove in three runs with RBIs also going to Bliss, Segall and Zane Ison, who pitched four innings splitting mound duties with Segall and the pair combining for 11 strikeouts.
Far closer for Chittenango was lastr Wednesday’s game against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, who pushed Chittenango all the way to the final out before the Bears held on to prevail 2-1 over the Red Devils.
A first-inning run got Chittenango in front. Then the two sides swapped fourth-inning tallies as Valente drove home Caras and later scored on a single by Cooper Smith.
The rest was up to Tianello, who pitched five innings and allowed four hits before Valente threw two no-hit innings of relief to help the Bears stay in front.
