Cazenovia baseball readies for Westhill clash

By PHil Blackwell

All the work the Cazenovia baseball team had done for the last 10-plus months has geared itself toward ultimately upending Westhill and, by doing so, perhaps assuming the top spot in the area Class B ranks.

These two powers are set to clash, weather permitting, on Thursday afternoon.

In the lead-up, Cazenovia had two other games against OHSL Liberty division rivals, starting last Tuesday with a visit from Solvay and quick work done in the chilly conditions to beat the Bearcats

11-1. Despite Solvay’s 4-1 record, the Lakers struck for five runs in the first inning against pitcher Cameron Capotta, added a run in the third and put together a fiverun fourth to extend the margin.

Aside from his complete game and eight strikeouts, Jack Byrnes also went three-for-four with a double and two RBIs. Jacob Grevelding, Taven Reilley and Nico Segall also drove in a pair of runs, with Izaak Gilbert scoring twice as Dan Bliss and Jacob Szalach contributed RBIs.

It was warmer two days later when Skaneateles arrived for a Lakers show - down that turned into yet another Cazenovia showcase, especially for Donlin, who was the central figure in a 7-1 victory. Not only did Donlin pitch 6 2/3 innings and keep Skaneateles off the board until the seventh inning, he also smashed a home run, added a single, scored twice and got three RBIs.

Building a 6-0 lead through four innings against Skaneateles pitcher Nate Shattuck, Cazenovia also saw Grevelding get two hits as Gilbert and Jacob Cox added one RBI apiece.

Meanwhile, Chittenango returned to the diamond on Thursday and, hosting

Phoenix, prevailed 8-2, the Bears getting away with three-run rallies in the third and fifth innings.

Ben Welch and Ed MacAlpine led Chittenango, each getting two hits and two RBIs. Ty Kelly also had a pair of hits as Zailor Calas scored three runs, Carlos Torres-Carman pitched 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and limiting Phoenix to five hits before Quinton Hilliker worked the last 1 2/3 inning in relief. Even more impressive was Saturday’s 23-5 win over Canastota, where the Bears piled up 11 runs in the first inning and six runs in the second on the way to 20 hits overall.