Cortland Standard .net

By TOM VARTANIAN
Staff Writer
SYRACUSE — In a day full of highs and lows, Homer Central baseball coach Robert Nasiatka enjoyed his own moment of glory Saturday.
After watching his very young Trojan team fall to Chittenango 6-3 in the Bears’ second come-from-behind win over his team in three days, Nasiatka got his 100th career victory as Homer notched its initial win of the season with an 18-5 six-inning rout of East Syracuse-Minoa in the second game of a Coaches vs. Cancer doubleheader at Onondaga Community College.
Homer is 1-2 in OHSL Freedom National Division play and overall. Chittenango improves to 2-2 in league and overall play while ES-M moves to 1-2 in league play after a 24-4 victory over Fulton later in the day and 1-3 overall.
“I’ve had some great kids along the way,” Nasiatka said after reaching his milestone in his ninth season as the Trojans skipper. “There has been great support from the parents and the community as well. They are the people who really made it possible. It’s been an enjoyable experience.
“We are a very young team,” he continued. ‘We made mistakes in the first game and it cost us again. We need to do the right things in the field and that will come.”
How young are the Trojans? Just one senior was on the field in each game as Homer had four players inactive on the roster Saturday. Houghton College-bound senior Jake Hayes is out with a broken collarbone, sophomore Peter Davis is ineligible and the Ulrich brothers (Nate and Evan) were on a school trip to Boston.
Ben Gravel and Joe Tummino were called up from the JV squad for the day.
Chittenango 6, Homer 3: Hayes’ younger brother Casey took the mound in the opener and the freshman pitched well enough to win, but a five-run burst by Chittenango in the top of the fifth inning turned a Trojan 3-1 lead into a 6-3 Bears advantage. Hayes went four-plus innings and gave up four runs — two earned — on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
Beck Lundeen (3-for-4) delivered a one-out single in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1 and his two-out single in the bottom of the second to Homer on top 2-1. Hayes walked in the fourth inning and scored on an error for the 3-1 cushion.
Back-to-back walks and an RBI single pulled Chittenango to within 3-2 in the fifth and Hayes left the game. Two more singles led to another run and a misplayed grounder put the Bears in the lead for good.
Storm Grant added a 3-for-4 bat for the Trojans while lone senior starter Gage Root was 2-for-3.
Dane Johnson, Wyatt Myers and John Murray each recorded two hits for Chittenango. Joe Murray got the win in relief.
Homer 18, ES-Minoa 5: The Trojans took advantage of 14 walks and four errors in Nasiatka’s 100th win. The Trojans built an 8-3 lead on just two hits through the first three innings.
Homer did get some timely hits as Brandon Grant was 3-for-4 with two doubles, three runs scored and six RBIs. Nikoli Grihin added a 2-for-2 effort with one double, three runs scored and two RBIs.
Senior hurler Kenny Ellis went the distance for his first win of the season. Ellis allowed just three earned runs of the five scored on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Ellis mixed his pitches well to keep the Spartans off balance.
“In reality, Garrett called a great game,” Ellis said of junior catcher Garrett Lewis. “We were on the same page the whole game and I did not shake him off once. It was also nice pitching with a big lead.
“My defense also made the plays behind me,” he added. “It was nice to be part of coach’s 100th win.”
“Garrett is playing like a senior behind the plate,” Nasiatka said. “I am glad he’s back there. Kenny and him knew what was needed. Kenny made right pitches in the right locations.”
Homer has a busy week with six games over the next six days. The Trojans are scheduled to visit Jamesville-DeWitt today with trips to Mexico Tuesday, Marcellus Thursday and Oswego Friday. All four games start at 4:30. On Saturday, Homer heads to Union-Endicott (11 a.m.) and Vestal (2 p.m.) for a pair of non-league games.