When the Liverpool baseball team made its way back from a week of work in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, it joined home-standing Cicero-North Syracuse in wondering if any sort of consistency could get hashed out. The Warriors hosted Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday afternoon, and a poor start would doom them in a 7-5 defeat to the Hornets. F-M got to Liverpool starting pitcher Nick Claver early, leading 3-0 after two innings, and used a three-run fourth inning to cushion itself against the Warriors’ late comeback attempt. Josh Loeffler and Mike Hoalcraft both smashed home runs for the Hornets, with Loeffler adding two other hits and finishing with three RBIs. Hoalcraft also doubled and drove in two runs. Despite all that, Liverpool closed the gap to 6-5 with three runs in the sixth, but could not pull even. Claver lasted six innings before Ryan Stott replaced him in the seventh. Don Pauldine and Rick Sisto both drove in two runs, while Luke Gilbert added an RBI. Liverpool lost despite 14 hits, three each by Sisto, Ben Terzini and Jason Schulz, who also scored a pair of runs. C-NS lost again at home on a Monday, just as it had done to West Genesee a week earlier, this time seeing Auburn arrive at Gillette Field and knock off the Northstars 6-1. Once the Maroons had scored three times in the second inning and twice more in the third, Jason Shandler was out, replaced by Ryan Nadeau, who went 4 1/3 innings in relief and calmed things down. Auburn’s Matt Brooks hit a home run, while Patrick LaDouce had a pair of RBIs. Try as it could, the Northstars could not figure out Auburn pitcher Justin Valentino, who got nine strikeouts and gave up just five hits, two each from Mike Copani (who scored his team’s lone run in the sixth) and Justin Teague. Once these games were done, the waiting began. Rainouts on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday gave credence to Section III’s decision to push back the last day of the regular season from May 17 to 20, giving everyone a chance to fit in as many games as possible. But it dried up in time for a busy weekend, which commenced on Friday with Liverpool facing Auburn its way to a 3-2 victory over the Maroons. A first-inning run got the Warriors in front, but it needed to score twice in the fifth to give itself a cushion. Sisto blasted a home run and earned two RBIs, while Tom Karins drove in the other run. On the mound, Pauldine persevered through 10 Auburn hits and single runs by the Maroons in the fifth and seventh, earning the complete game by limiting the Maroons to one walk while recording four strikeouts. With little turnaround, the Warriors had to go face defending state Class AA champion Baldwinsville on Saturday afternoon and lost, 8-1, to the Bees. Liverpool missed having to face B’ville’s highly-touted ace, Scott Blewett, who had pitched the day before and shut out F-M 4-0, but it had a hard time with the guy who was on the mound, Brett DeLola, managing just six hits against the Bees’ hurler, who struck out eight. Still, Sisto’s RBI single gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead in the third. But B’ville got to Bobby Zywicki for four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take charge and added a four-run sixth for a further cushion. Mike Borek led the Bees, going three-for-three with three RBIs. Meanwhile, C-NS, who would get its own shot at B’ville on Tuesday, survived a tense 1-0 duel with Syracuse West thanks to another outstanding effort on the mound from ace Steven Theetge. Getting his third straight shutout, Theetge limited West to two hits, striking out six without allowing a walk. West pitcher Nate Boughton nearly matched him, but gave up a run in the bottom of the second as Jake McArdell drove home Steve Kires.