In the first of two regular-season encounters, the Christian Brothers Academy baseball team would outlast its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt, using a power surge to earn a 13-7 victory last Tuesday afternoon. J-D would keep up for a while, and even led 3-2 in the third inning before the Brothers went ahed for good with three runs in the bottom of that frame. The real getaway came in the fourth, when CBA, up 5-4, tagged the Red Rams for six runs. J-D could not catch up, even though Anthony Dunn picked up four hits and Justin Marzella contributed three hits. Anthony Cirillo’s contributions went far beyond the pitcher’s mound, where he earned the win. Twice, Cirillo went deep for home runs on his way to a career-best six RBIs as he served as the anchor of the Brothers’ 16-hit attack. In support, Bryant Moore and Dan Patane both added their own solo home runs, as Riley Dixon, Pete Corasaniti, Pat Wiese and Steve Gangemi joined them with single RBIs. Dunn and Marzella drove in two runs apiece as Mike Gianni, Eric Thompson and Eric Schwartz earned single RBIs on J-D’s behalf. This came a day after J-D lost to Vernon Verona Sherrill 9-4, a game that was tight until the Red Devils got four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull clear. Mason Scheneck had a double and two RBIs, while Thompson and Dunn drove in one run apiece. Jamie Shibley, pitching in relief of Marzella, took the loss. Later in the week, the Rams would fall again to Homer, 14-6, a close battle that got away when the Trojans, led by Zephan Kash (two home runs) and Zaach Blanden (two doubles, four RBIs, scored five times in the sixth inning and added four runs in the seventh. Marzella took the loss, with Eric Schwartz and Josh Paduano both working in relief. J-D’s Tyler Kirwin drove in two runs as Dunn and Thompson both had one RBI. CBA, meanwhile, kept on winning, first with a 25-6 pasting of Fowler that featured nine runs in the first inning and another nine-run outburst in the fifth. Shaun McGraw homered as he, along with Sean Fitzpatrick and Joe Merola, earned two RBIs apiece. It proved much closer on Friday, against Cortland, but the Brothers still beat the Purple Tigers 6-3. With the score 2-1, CBA used four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to get away. Luke Alletzhauser went the route on the mound, surrendering just five hits. He also drove in two runs at the plate as McGraw and Cirillo earned one RBI apiece. Completing a 4-0 week, the Brothers went to Gillette Field on Saturday and produced a 6-5 victory over defending Class AA champion Cicero-North Syracuse.
Poor defense by the Northstars (five errors) helped CBA gain a 6-2 lead by the fifth innings. Two hits by Dave Anderson helped, too, as McGraw and Moore earned RBIs. Fitzpatrick and Rob Cuomo took early mound stints — but when CNS started to rally with a pair of runs in the fifth, Anderson took over in relief. Ahead 6-4, he gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh, but recorded the final out to earn the win.