Canisius armed and dangerous

Brian Tenney of Canisius may have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to pitching talent on his No. 1-ranked team.

Ten days ago, James Tronolone pitched the Crusaders (11-0, 8-0 Monsignor Martin Association) to a 5-2 win over arch-rival St. Joe’s. Wednesday, in Delaware Park, it was junior Bill Brancatella’s turn. He turned back the Marauders, 4-0, on a five-hitter, striking out eight.

“I would say this is one of the deepest pitching staffs I’ve had in 20 years of coaching,” Tenney said. “I can call on any one of five guys.”

Sophomore Sean Tenney, the oldest of the coach’s four sons, doubled in the fourth and scored the game’s first run and had an RBI single in the sixth to make it 2-0. Frank Polino had two hits and two stolen bases for the Crusaders.

Bulldogs’ bats are alive

Resurgent Kenmore East finally has the bats going. The Bulldogs pounded out 16 hits, including four by Scott Whitehead and three by Kevin Whitehead, in a 14-3 triumph over Kenmore West. Jacob Kirbis went the distance on a six-hitter with eight strikeouts for East, which started the season 0-4 and now stands 5-4, 3-4 in the Niagara Frontier League.

“It’s a rivalry game and Jake was very pumped up,” East coach Wes Simon said. “We got him the lead early, which was great, and, once we got him the lead, Jake threw strikes. I don’t remember the last time we had 16 hits. We’re always thrilled to beat our cross-town rival.”

Thanks to Jordan Cave, No. 7 large school Cheektowaga gained a share of first place in ECIC III with a 9-2 victory over No. 2 small school East Aurora. The outcome left the teams tied with 6-1 division records.

Besides pitching a four-hitter with 11 strikeouts for his third victory within the division, Cave hit a grand slam in the second inning to give the Warriors the lead, 5-2.

In the first shutout by a Lake Shore pitcher in six years, Jason Radwan tossed a two-hitter for his fourth win of the season and had a pair of hits as the Eagles defeated Starpoint, 7-0, in ECIC III. Jim Evancho drove in two runs with a pair of hits for the winners.

Darkness stops Clarence

No. 4 baseball large school Clarence scored a lot of runs, gave up a lot of runs, and walked off the field without a result as its 13-13 game with Lancaster was suspended after seven innings due to darkness. Clarence coach Dave Smith cracked that it was “the worst baseball game ever.”

“Give them credit, we beat them pretty good [10-0 on April 23] and they came out ready,” said Smith, who did not know when or if the game would be completed. “They scored in every inning except the seventh. They would score, my guys would come back, they would score, my guys would come back. We tied it up and had the bases loaded in the seventh but ended the inning on a pop-up. . . . We had six errors on each side, pitchers walking guys, passed balls, missed cutoffs, it was a disaster.”

Zach Lauricella had three hits for Clarence (8-3-1, 6-1-1). Justin Juda powered a home run over the fence for Lancaster (2-5-1 ECIC I).

Bret Heath hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh to give Jamestown a 4-3 ECIC I win at Hamburg.

Two 1-0 duels in softball

Hillary Panek of Alden struck out 18 and hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 ECIC IV softball win over Holland. Panek, a sophomore who is coming back from double knee surgery, pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the fourth inning with a pair of strikeouts. A Holland runner was thrown out at the plate in the sixth to preserve Panek’s shutout.

“Panek won three games last week,” said Alden coach Jeff Kruszczuk. “She is bouncing back from double ACL surgery. She’s very determined. She loves the sport.”

In another pitching duel, Sara Tauriello of Iroquois won a matchup against Kyle Plimpton of Williamsville South, 1-0, in ECIC II. Tesa Ramsdell doubled home Jen Krobith for the only run in the third. It was one of only three hits allowed by Plimpton, who struck out 15 in taking the hard-luck defeat. Tauriello allowed four hits and struck out seven.

Freshman Tory Nappo pitched the complete game and her older sister, Val, a junior, hit a pair of home runs as No. 1 Clarence (11-0, 7-0 ECIC I) defeated Jamestown, 11-1.

Left fielder Michelle DelPrince’s throw to catcher Emily Walters for the final out at the plate in the bottom of the eighth preserved Lancaster’s 5-4 win over Williamsville North in ECIC I. Alex Stribing’s two-out, two-run double in the top of the eighth gave the Redskins the edge.

Timon wins in lacrosse

Bishop Timon-St. Jude completed a regular- season sweep of Canisius, 10-6, in Monsignor Martin boys lacrosse. Gage Carrig had three goals and a pair of assists and Pat Isch scored twice for the Tigers (8-2, 5-0).

Kayla Minner scored eight goals as Lockport (8-0, 5-0 NFL) overwhelmed Niagara- Wheatfield, 24-10, in Niagara Frontier League girls lacrosse. Evonne Printup-Rice had four goals for the losing Falcons.

In ECIC II boys track, Lake Shore won the last two relays, the 4x400 meters and 4x100, to edge West Seneca West, 71-70, despite doubles by David Thomas, Tony George and Ron Major of the Indians.