Many different assumptions came crashing down on Friday afternoon when the Solvay baseball team went to Westhill and pulled off a 4-2, eight-inning victory over the two-time defending state Class B champion Warriors. First, a notion had developed that no one in the Onondaga High School League Liberty division – and perhaps no one in Section III Class B – was going to stop Westhill, as was the case in 2009 and 2010. Just as powerful was the thought that no league pitcher could win a duel with Warriors ace Kevin McAvoy. Yet Solvay, 6-4 entering the game (and coming off losses to Cazenovia and Skaneateles earlier in the week), didn’t care about those perceptions. And Ronn Bidwell, in particular, made a larger name for himself by sticking right with McAvoy through regulation and also notching the big hits to help his team prevail. Both sides scored once in the first inning. Bidwell blanked Westhill through the next two innings, only to surrender a run in the bottom of the fourth as Nick Vitagliano crossed the plate and Westhill inched ahead, 2-1. Yet McAvoy could not hold on to that lead for long, Solvay pulling even again in the top of the fifth on Brennin Matticio’s RBI double. And it remained 2-2 for the rest of regulation, McAvoy and Bidwell trading zeroes as the tension grew. Then, in the top of the eighth, McAvoy recorded another strikeout, one of 12 in the game – but a dropped third strike allowed John Savo to reach base. An error followed, and with two on Bidwell stepped up – and drilled a double, his third hit of the game, that scored both runners. Now with a two-run lead, Bidwell calmly got the final three outs. By no means was he clean, as he gave up four hits and seven walks. But Bidwell used seven strikeouts and top-notch defense behind him to constantly get out of trouble and keep Solvay in it. As this went on, Solvay and Westhill also clashed in softball – and it was the Warriors coming out on top in a 2-1 thriller. In the top of the first, the Bearcats moved ahead 1-0, Tiffney Guinta scoring the run. From there, Solvay would get six hits and coax three walks off Westhill ace Toni Secreti, including two hits apiece from Julie Gardner and Kiersten DiBello. But it would not score again. Secreti struck out seven – four more than Gardner, who nearly proved as stingy. Westhill would get to her, though, for single runs in the second and fourth innings that would hold up as Katie Clark, Chelsea Trichilo and Andrea Golembiewski each managed two hits. Clark and Trichilo scored the runs as Mackenzie Davis picked up an RBI. Westhill improved its record to 10-6, while Solvay fell to 9-4. One week remains in the regular season, and among the remaining games is Tuesday’s rematch, both in softball and baseball, between the Warriors and Bearcats at Solvay, the make-up of an April 26 rainout.