CENTRAL NEW YORK – Armed with momentum from having topped rival Chittenango at home on April 26, the Cazenovia baseball team hoped to carry it over into other tough OHSL Liberty division games.
Twice last week the Lakers faced state Class B no. 14-ranked Solvay and was able to split those games, emerging victorious in the second game last Friday by a score of 4-3 with a stunning late-game comeback.
Having already lost 9-3 to the Bearcats earlier in the week, Cazenovia found itself again trailing in the rematch, all from runs in the first two innings including Max Overend’s solo home run.
Pitcher Danny Bliss settled down and blanked Solvay from there, accumulating nine strikeouts, but it was still 3-0 in the Bearcats’ favor going to the bottom of the seventh.
Suddenly the Lakers figured out Solvay pitcher Cameron Cappetta as Bliss, Max Nichiporuk and Jake Hightchew each drove in runs to tie the game 3-3.
Then, with one out and the winning run in scoring position against reliever Chris Cappetta, Joey Awald singled, and it proved the game-winner. Awald was the only Cazenovia player with two hits in this game.
Four days earlier, the Lakers went to and mostly played on even terms with the Bearcats, only to have one inning proved costly.
Pitchers Zane Ison (for Cazenovia) and Jacob Bigelow (for Solvay) kept it 0-0 until the bottom of the third, when Solvay batted around and didn’t let up until it had scored seven times.
A run in the sixth prevented a shutout and the Lakers added two more in the seventh as Bliss got a pair of hits and scored a run, with RBIs going to Hightchew, Jacob Gentner and Miles Synborski. Aaron Trendell and Vito Hamon each drove in two runs to lead the Bearcats.
Returning to action on Wednesday against Morrisville-Eaton, Cazenovia took a 3-1 defeat to the Mavericks, Bliss getting the Lakers’ only run in the top of the first when he singled and scored.
M-E tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first and added two runs an inning later. Though Nico Segall shut out the Mavericks the rest of the way, Riley Dooley did the same with the Lakers only allowing four hits and recording 12 strikeouts. Aside from Bliss, Segall, Ison and Awald had those hits.
Chittenango took a 3-3 record into last Thursday’s game against Westhill, where it fell behind early and could not make up for it in a 4-1 defeat to the Warriors.
Bears pitcher Evan Tianello surrendered single runs in the first three innings. From there Tianello and Alex Pappas mostly contained it, but Chittenango’s only run came in the top of the sixth when Dylan Brownson drove home Eli Lefort. Tianello and Andrew Kielbasa accounted for four of the Bears’ six hits.
Recovering from this, Chittenango defeated East Syracuse Minoa 4-3 on Friday afternoon with late-game heroics both at the plate and on the mound.
Down 2-0 through two, the Bears replaced starting pitcher Reagan Poland with A.J. Valente, who blanked the Spartans over the next six innings
Meanwhile, Chittenango hung in there until the top of the fifth, when it broke through for three runs and the lead. ESM tied it 3-3, only to have the Bears answer with a run in the sixth to move in front for good.
Tianello and Zailor Caras led the way with two hits apiece. Tianello’s singles led to a pair of RBIs as Cooper Smith also drove in a run and Caras scored twice.
