WEEK IN REVIEW: BASEBALL
Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports
The latest New York State Sportswriters Poll was released, and Ichabod Crane has moved all the way up to second in the state in Class A and are the top ranked team in Section II. The only other local representative in the state rankings is Germantown, who check in at number seventeen.
MONDAY
Germantown at Heatly
The Clippers moved to 10-0 in the Central Hudson Valley League after a hard fought 5-3 victory over Heatly on Monday. All three of the Hornets' runs were unearned as Cody Broast took the hill for Germantown and went the distance, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out ten.
At the plate, Broast added a pair of hits, while Ian Whitaker picked up two hits and three RBIs, and Larry Niebling added three hits in the win.
Ichabod Crane at Cairo-Durham
It wasn’t easy, because the Riders struck out fourteen times and collected just six hits, but it was just enough to remain undefeated in the Patroon Conference and upend Cairo 3-1 on Monday. As he has been so many times in his career, Josh Ingham was the star of the day for the Riders, collecting three hits, including the game-winning two-run home run in the sixth inning.
Alex Mastrianni started on the hill for the Riders and went five strong innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk while striking out nine. Ingham came on to close out the game, hurling the final two innings giving up three hits but striking out six.
Hudson at Maple Hill
The Bluehawks got back on the right track with a strong 10-4 win over Maple Hill. The victory moves Hudson to 6-5 in the league as the second half of the season gets into full swing.
Brad Holmes started and went the distance on the mound for Hudson, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out five. At the plate, Alex Ebel finished with three hits and an RBI, while both Ryan Clark and Jack Rigos collected a pair of hits and two RBIs each. Kevin Gorman and Brian McSween each picked up RBI in the win.
Taconic Hills at Greenville
The Titans of Taconic Hills remained stuck at just one victory in the league after Greenville rallied to defeat the visiting Titans 9-4 on Monday. Ron Ernst went all six innings for the Titans, giving up nine runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out three.
At the plate, the Titans picked up six hits—two by Nick Warren and one each by D. J. DeRuzzio, Chris Filli, Mike Jacobsen, and Ryan McComb.
WEDNESDAY
Cairo-Durham at Ichabod Crane
The Riders picked up a 3-0 victory on Wednesday over the Mustangs and moved to 12-0 in the league, earning themselves at least a share of the league crown. Seth Williams took the hill and went the distance, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out seven. The ICC offense collected just four hits on the day, but it was enough offense to earn the victory.
Germantown at New Lebanon
The Clippers remained undefeated in the CHVL and handed the Tigers another league loss after a 7-1 ball game on Wednesday. Larry Niebling went six strong innings on the hill for the Clippers, giving up one run on three hits and two walks while striking out seven, before Thomas Griffin came on in relief, striking out one in the final inning.
Cody Broast, Matt Bruggeman, and D. J. Lyons each picked up two hits and an RBI, while Connor Mead added a pair of hits in the win.
THURSDAY
Catskill at Chatham
Catskill visited Chatham Wednesday to make up a game cancelled by rain two weeks ago. Chatham jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Evan Young singled up the middle to lead off the bottom of the first and Joe Cozzolino followed with a single to left field that was misplayed and allowed Young to score and Cozzolino to advance to second. Catskill's starting pitcher Cameron Overbaugh balked Cozzolino to third, and he scored on a single by Nick Shaw to push the lead to 2. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Evan Young singled home Craig Hall, and then Brad Doty followed by stealing home to extend the lead to 4-0 in favor of the Panthers.
That is where it stayed until the bottom of the fifth, when Chatham tacked on three more runs when Jordan Sirani and Trevor Madsen had back-to-back one-out singles. Craig Hall stepped to the plate and drilled a double to the wall over the left fielder's head to score Sirani and Madsen. His brother Cody Hall followed with a single to score Craig and extend the lead to 7-0. Catskill got on the board in the top of the sixth when Cameron Overbaugh walked, stole second, and then was singled home by Tyler Rocco to make the final 7-1.
For the Panthers, Evan Young was two for three with an RBI, Nick Shaw was two for three with an RBI, Trevor Madsen was two for four, Cody Hall was two for twp, and Craig Hall had a double. On the mound, Nick Faxon went the distance for Chatham, allowing five hits, one run, one BB, and six Ks.
”It was a quality win for us heading into the home stretch," report Panther coach Scott Steltz via email. "Catskill is a much improved team defensively and will be a team to be reckoned with as they are young. Catskill has a good lineup with a couple real good hitters. We were able to take advantage of the walks they gave us and get out to an early lead. Nick Faxon pitched outstanding today. He worked ahead of fifteen of the twenty-seven batters he faced, and when he does that he can keep us in any game. Our defense also played well behind him because he worked quickly and was around the plate. Cody Hall made a play in the top of the first to start a double play and give us momentum going into our half of the inning. We have come a long way the last few weeks, and it's due to the team's dedication and hard work at practice.”
Rensselaer at Germantown
The Clippers keep on rolling with a 5-1 win over visiting Rensselaer on Wednesday. Brandan Jason hurled the first three innings for the Clippers, allowing one run on two hits and four walks while striking out two. Matt Bruggeman came on and threw the final four innings, giving up just one hit and two walks while striking out five.
At the plate, Cody Broast had two hits and an RBI, while DJ Lyons and Larry Niebling each added an RBI double.
Maple Hill at Hudson
Behind a strong all-around performance from Alex Ebel, Hudson swept their season series with Maple Hill on Thursday defeating the visiting Wildcats 9-5. Ebel started on the mound for the Bluehawks and threw five innings, giving up five runs on two hits and two walks while striking out five. Kevin Gorman relieved Ebel, throwing the final two innings, giving up two hits, a walk, and two strikeouts.
At the plate, Ebel led the charge with three hits and two RBIs, while Gorman helped out with two hits, including a home run and two RBIs.
FRIDAY
Ichabod Crane at Chatham
Ichabod Crane visited Chatham for a classic Patroon Conference matchup on Friday, with ICC making a hard-charging comeback to bring home 13-6 win and remain undefeated in the league.
Chatham got out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Evan Young scored on a fielders choice off the bat of Jordan Sirani. In the top of the second, the Riders scored in the same fashion when Zack Albery scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Bryan Smith.
Chatham seized the lead in the bottom of the second when Joe Cozzolino launched a grand slam over the center field wall to give Chatham a 5-1 lead. Josh Ingham narrowed the gap to 5-2 for ICC when he scored on a passed ball in the top of the fourth. The score stayed there until the top of the sixth, when Derek Horn launched a two-run homer to center field to make it 5-4 Chatham. In the bottom of the sixth, Chatham tacked on 1 when Evan Young scored on a single off the bat of Tanner Niles.
Nick Albery walked to start the seventh, and his brother Zack followed with a double. After a walk to Ricky Pallozzi to force in a run, David Winch was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run, and Bryan Smith followed with a bases-clearing double. The Riders tacked on four more in the inning to make it a 13-6 game. Chatham could not pull off the same feat and fell in the league matchup.
At the plate for ICC, every player scored at least a single run, while Bryan Smith had two hits and four RBIs in the win. Ricky Pallozzi added a hit and three RBIs, while Derick Horn had a pair of hits and two RBIs. Zach Albery finished with three hits, an RBI, and two runs scored. For Chatham Joe Cozzolino hit a grand slam, while Evan Young had a pair of hits and scored three times, and Tanner Niles and Jordan Sirani each had two hits and an RBI.
On the mound, Ingham went four innings for ICC, allowing five runs, four earned on eight hits, and a walk while striking out five before being relived by Smith, who threw the final three innings, giving up one run on three hits while striking out four. For Chatham, Evan Young started on the mound and went five innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks while striking out one. Craig Hall and Michael Versheldon combined to throw the final two innings, allowing eleven runs on seven hits and five walks while striking out one.
”I thought both teams played well," commented Panther coach Steltz via email. "We were able to get to Josh [Ingham] early and that gave us momentum and the opportunity to make them play catch up. I give them a lot of credit as they had very disciplined at bats throughout their entire lineup. They are a fundamentally strong team, and they held it together when they were behind, when most teams would fold. We look forward to playing them again on Monday.”
Cairo-Durham at Hudson
The Bluehawks picked up a big win defeating a tough Cairo squad 15-3 on Friday. Kevin Gorman was in cruise control on the mound for Hudson, going the distance, allowing three runs on just five hits and two walks while striking out six.
At the plate, Ryan Clark and Brad Holmes picked up three hits apiece, while Clark drove in four runs and Holmes knocked in one. Alex Ebel and Talib Barksdale each added a pair of hits for Hudson, with Ebel driving in two runs and Barksdale chipping in with an RBI and a run.
Greenville at Taconic Hills
The hard luck Titans had a chance to earn another league win but again came up just short, falling 1-0 and squandering a brilliant pitching performance by Mike Jacobsen. Jacobsen, the senior left-hander, went the distance for the Titans, allowing just one run on just four hits while striking out seven. At the plate, a pair of pitchers combined to stymie the Taconic Hills bats and the Titans were no-hit in the contest.
