Twice, the Chittenango baseball team stood within a few outs of knocking off state-ranked Christian Brothers Academy in last Tuesday’s marathon at St. Denis Field. Both times, the Bears saw that lead get away, and Sean McGraw’s home run in the bottom of the 11th inning gave Chittenango a painful 10-8 defeat in the longest game of the season. The first indication that this game might be special came when the Bears, down 5-0 after a big second inning on CBA’s part, fought back with four runs in the top of the third. Both teams settled down for a while, but Chittenango seized a 6-5 lead with a pair of fifth-inning runs against CBA pitcher Rob Cuomo, whose last outing had been a no-hitter against Phoenix on May 8. It remained 6-5 until the bottom of the seventh. Chittenango could not get that final out as CBA pushed across a run, sending the game into extra innings at 6-6. Following a scoreless eighth inning, the Bears appeared to have it once more when it scored twice to go up 8-6. Again, the Brothers came back, tying it 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth off Jon Stevens, Chittenango’s third pitcher of the day. As it neared darkness, the teams battled through a scoreless 10th inning. Dave Anderson stopped the Bears in the top of the 11th, and in the bottom of that frame, with a runner on, McGraw (who had already hit a home run in this game) sent a Steve Mesmer pitch over the fence to end it. Chittenango lost despite gaining 15 hits to CBA’s nine. Zach Boswell and Chris Green each had three RBIs, with Stevens also driving in a run. A day earlier the Bears unleashed a season-best run at Fowler, pummeling the Falcons by a 28-2 margin. Already ahead 9-0 through three innings, Chittenango peaked with a fourth inning where everyone batted, everyone crossed the plate and 14 runs were put up before it was done. Finishing with 20 hits on the day, the Bears had Wes Burghardt and Devin Christopher each finish with two doubles and six RBIs. Stevens also had two doubles, driving in five runs as Boswell, Mike Moon and Andrew Lampman finished with two RBIs apiece. Shaun Skurpski and Pat McGinnis each got one RBI.