Weedsport Baseball Has Strong Start, But Falls Short

The Weedsport Varsity Baseball Team was defeated by a strong Tully Black Knights team in a close game, 6-4 on Thursday night. With a lot of ups and downs, the Warriors lost the game in the late innings, towards the fifth and sixth inning.

The emotions were different for this game, as the Warriors were invited to the Strike Out ALS Classic located at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse, where the Syracuse Chiefs play. It’s a professional stadium, that boosts morale for any team.

“We were just going in looking forward to it since we found out,” said head coach Rob Matson. “We got rained out last year, so I don’t think it happened. It’s great experience for the guys, we’re a young team. They even put the lights on for us.”

Jason Kazinivsky started on the mound for the Warriors, taking the team through 5 ⅔ innings. He secured four strikeouts, and allowed three runs. He also went 2-for-4 in the box, with one walk.

The teams were tied 1-1 in the fourth inning, before Tully came in the top of the fifth to add two runs. But Weedsport was quick to come back after some solid hitting from Tom Campbell, who sent Jake Brown home to score.

The team also saw excellent base running from two of the Mabbett triplets (Connor and Aidan), who ended up scoring after initially being walked. The team was fighting hard to keep the game close.

“We just gotta keep fighting every inning,” said Matson. “Again, we’re a very young team; we had a lot of young pitchers go today. It’s a wonderful learning experience that will hopefully follow them for the next four years.”

The game was tied at three, and eventually four, until the sixth inning, where the Black Knights added two more runs that the Warriors could not make up. These runs were while Aidan Mabbett was on the mound in relief.

The Warriors came out in the bottom of the seventh, eventually stranding two runners on base, with one in scoring position. However, a strikeout from Jake Brown ended the game in the bottom of the seventh.

“I was a little upset, I think we can win every game,” said Matson. “Tully’s a really good team, we had some really good guys throw today. We had some guys make good contact, so hopefully they start falling for us.”

As for the Warriors (1-4), they now look to get some more wins in their record to hopefully get to compete in the sectional tournament again. They face Hannibal on Saturday, April 29, away.

“We just have to keep battling,” said Matson. “This is only our fourth game of the season, hopefully the weather breaks and we can get some more reps, more experience in the game. Then hopefully come back Saturday morning.”