Another post-season, and another chance for Westhill’s Kevin McAvoy to dazzle.
McAvoy threw a no-hitter for the baseball Warriors as it dismissed no. 9 seed Utica-Notre Dame 5-0 in Thursday’s Section III Class B-1 quarterfinal, advancing to face league rival Marcellus in the semifinal round after the Mustangs blew out Solvay 15-1. Not far away, in Camillus, West Genesee rose from its no. 4 seed to earn a spot in the sectional Class AA semifinal round against top seed Liverpool by earning a 5-1 victory over no. 5 seed Watertown. And Bishop Ludden, the top seed in Class A, crushed no. 8 seed Mexico 16-3. In front of his future college coach at Bryant (R.I.), former LeMoyne coach Steve Owens, McAvoy allowed just two Utica-Notre Dame batters to reach base through one walk and one hit batsman. Everyone else in the Jugglers’ lineup went down as McAvoy earned six strikeouts. David Graf’s solo home run in the bottom of the first was all the offense required, but Westhill tacked on two runs in both the fourth and sixth innings. J.C. Pena had a double and two RBIs, while Mark Syron and Alex Godzak also drove in runs. Marcellus, the no. 4 seed, saw a close game break open in the bottom of the fourth. The Mustangs went around its order and scored eight runs in that frame, knocking out Ryan Bidwell, who took the loss. Tim Schneider and Nick Sinay each had three RBIs, with Mike Sniffen joining Sinay as they pounded out three hits apiece. Sinay also scored three runs as Sniffen, Taylor Vile, Jordan Smith and Kyle Hastings earned two RBis apiece. Phil Zdanowski, given all kinds of run support, went six innings for the win, striking out 13 Solvay batters before Vile worked the last inning in relief. The Bearcats’ season, which included a 4-2 upset of Westhill on May 13, finished with an 8-7 record. In Camillus, West Genesee overcame its own struggles at the plate to eliminate Watertown. Despite earning just four hits, WG moved ahead with single runs in the first and third innings. And after Watertown cut it to 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the Wildcats used two runs in the bottom of the fourth to regain control. Sean Pisik and Mike Sgroi both finished with two RBIs, while Cam Kyle also drove in a run and Greg Wadach scored twice. Spencer allowed seven hits in his six innings of work, but kept escaping as he and reliever Matt Naton combined for 10 strikeouts. No such hitting problems were found at Bishop Ludden, though. James Murray gave up a pair of first-inning runs, but Ludden countered with four runs in the bottom of the first to move ahead for good. The Gaelic Knights got away with back-to-back six-run rallies in the fourth and fifth innings. Chris Davis smashed a home run and finished with four RBIs. Ciro Frontale and Ryan O’Kane each had three hits, with Frontale getting two RBIs and Jared Taylor earning three RBIs. Mike DePalma scored three runs as Murray went 5 1/3 innings for the win before Corey Hunter took over in relief.