CENTRAL NEW YORK – Baseball teams from Jamesville-DeWitt and Christian Brothers Academy both found themselves back at Onondaga Commuity College early this week on the brink of repeating as Section III champions.
The Red Rams accomplished it as, still perched atop the state Class A rankings, it roared past New Hartford 13-0 in Monday night’s sectional title game.
A night earlier the Brothers, in the Class AAA final, dropped a 5-2, eight-inning decision to Cicero-North Syracuse, who avenged losses to CBA in the post-season each of the last two years including the 2024 sectional final.
In Class A, J-D was going for its third consecutive sectional title. New Hartford was the last hurdle, but in the bottom of the first inning the Red Rams grabbed control for good.
Batting around, J-D ultimately plated five runs, chasing Spartans starting pitcher Byron Thornley from the game as New Hartford would ultimately send five pitchers to the mound, none for longer than 2 2/3 innings.
Already Luke VanMarter had enough of a cushion. The J-D ace would go six innings and strike out nine while limiting the Spartans to four hits.
Still the Rams added to the margin with four more runs in the bottom of the third to make it 9-0, and a five-run rally in the fifth got J-D to double digits.
Sam Ashe led the way, smashing a home run and adding a single while getting four RBIs. Eamon Giblin and Ryan Walker each drove in a pair of runs, with single RBIs going to VanMarter, Jack Pole and Dylan Bertollini, who matched Walker scoring a team-best three runs.
The sectional title followed, and in Thursday’s Class A regional playoffs J-D looked in position to advance before Section II’s Troy LaSalle staged a stunning late comeback to take it 6-5 in eight innings.
Going into the top of the seventh the Rams led 5-3 having erased a 3-2 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Anthony Ricciardello had tripled twice, with Giblin scoring three runs as VanMarter and Jordan had one RBI apiece.
However, LaSalle pulled even in the seventh with a pair of runs, then broke the 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth off VanMarter, in relief after stints from Giblin and Pole. J-D could not score in the bottom of the eighth and its season concluded with a 17-3 record.
Before this, J-D upended no. 4 seed Westhill 7-2 in last Saturday’s sectional semifinal at OCC, breaking out of a 1-1 tie with four runs in the bottom of the second as VanMarter and Pole finished with two RBIs apiece.
Walker and Cole Jordan also drove in runs, while Bertollini scored twice. Giblin pitched four innings and earned the win with 2 2/3 innings of relief help from Pole.
Meanwhile, CBA appeared ready for back-to-back sectional Class AAA titles, especially in the wake of the May 30 semifinal at Auburn’s Falcon Park where the no. 3 seed Brothers routed no. 2 seed Utica Proctor 14-2. A four-run first inning got CBA in front, and it got away with 10 total runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
Riley Clemons-Butenko went four-for-four and joined Ben Kaulback with three RBIs apiece as Hector Gonzalez, Tim Scholl and Luke Becker each drove in a pair of runs. Pitcher Colton Steinfest struck out 10 in his six innings on the mound.
Now came the final with C-NS, who had upended top seed Baldwinsville 5-3 in the other semifinal and had beaten CBA 7-6 in their lone regular-season meeting in April.
Tom Menar pitched and, after giving up a first-inning run, blanked the Northstars over the next four innings without much stress as the Brothers tried to get away.
Yet after scoring twice in the bottom of the second for a 2-1 lead, CBA’s hitters were frustrated as two C-NS relivers – first Landon Cook, then Jeremy Palmer – kept them off the board.
Throwing errors led to both Northstars runs in regulation, including the sixth when Jaden Zimmer led off with a single, moved to second on Menar’s wild pickoff throw and, with a flyout and groundout, brought home the tying run.
They were still 2-2 going to the top of the eighth, and Menar was still on the mound.
Pinch-hitter Carter Petranchuk drew a walk and pinch-runner Lawson Weckesser flew to third when Brothers catcher Mike Giamartino made a throwing error on Zimmer’s bunt.
Up stepped Kyle Kulikowski. On the first pitch he saw Kulikowski bunted, a squeeze play which scored Weckesser. Shacory Williams tacked on an RBI single and a third run scored on a Menar balk. Zimmer got the last three outs and the Northstars celebrated its first sectional title since 2016.
