Baseball

Beware of the bats

Bulldogs pay Eagles back after a pair of one-run losses

By RICHARD A. ROSS

GOSHEN, NY — Any thoughts the John S. Burke Catholic Eagles had of getting out the broom to complete a three-game Division IV sweep of Sullivan West were blasted into oblivion on April 21.

The Bulldogs showed they’d had enough of losing one-run games to Burke in the last inning. Sullivan West batters acted as if they were involved in the homerun derby as Joe Meyer and Matt Berger each blasted a pair of two-run homers. Jim Mahoney got into the act and added a round tripper while Chris Franke went 4-for-5 in Sullivan West’s most enlivened hitting of the season. Meyer led the team with six RBI. Berger had three and Mahoney chalked up two.

Garrett Owen got the win for the Bulldogs (4-5, 1-2 OCIAA) by pitching five innings and scattering nine hits. He gave up no earned runs and struck out four.

Nick Lambros and Bill Montipoli hit homeruns for Burke (5-6, 2-1 OCIAA).

The game lessened the sting of a pair of one-run losses in the first two games of the series. The opening game, played April 18 at the little park in Goshen, was a wild one with the lead see-sawing back and forth. Sullivan West looked to have things going their way with a breakout five-run seventh inning, fueled by a Matt Berger three-run homer, but Burke came back with an RBI double by Will Loeb and a two-out single by Erik Reinfried to win the game 15-14.

Lloyd Shaffer took the loss. He came on in relief of Matt Berger.

The second game, played on April 19 in Jeffersonville, was a classic pitching duel that featured a tremendous outing by Sullivan West’s Will O’Brien, who locked up first with James Smith and then Chris Batelli. The latter came on to pitch five scoreless innings in relief, but the Bulldogs had ample chances to walk off with the win in this one. They just couldn’t get the clutch hit when they needed it.

The teams played to a scoreless tie through three innings, but Burke got on the board in the top of the fourth when Reinfried reached on an error, a subsequent hit batsman, a fielder’s choice and a pair of walks, which gave Burke a one-run lead that stood up until the Bulldogs tied it in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back doubles by Shaffer and John Glassel.

O’Brien pitched seven innings and struck out seven before giving way to Mahoney in the eighth. The Bulldogs’ chances to win were burned by a double play in the bottom of the eighth with a runner on and no one out. Burke’s Eric Reinfried’s solo homerun off of Mahoney in the 11th gave Burke the one-run victory.

Yellowjackets break out in the sixth with a dozen runs to rout Manor

ELDRED, NY — After squandering a great pitching performance by Mike Prunka to Tri-Valley, the Yellowjackets belatedly woke up April 21 and gave their ace a nicely wrapped present: 12 runs in the sixth inning that drove Wildcat starter Marvin Bonilla from the mound.

Eldred had taken a one-run lead in the first inning after Prunka singled and promptly stole second. J.T. Vogt reached on an E-3 and drove in the run.

Vogt had a big day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. He also scored twice. George Fountain and Nick McCormick got into the act with a pair of RBI each. Prunka pitched a complete game and struck out 12 for Eldred (2-4, 2-0 OCIAA). Manor remained winless at 0-4 (0-2 OCIAA).

Manor got its only run in the top of the third on an RBI single by Josh Mendez. Eldred’s win followed a 17-1 loss to Chester on April 19. The Hambletonians of Chester rode the bats of Mike Schmidlein, who went 5-for-5 with two RBI, and J.J. Mejia, who had two hits and two RBI. Chester improved to 4-3 with the win.

Despite the great win over Manor, Eldred’s week concluded on April 22 on the same down note on which it began with an 11-3 shellacking by Fallsburg. Harris Seletsky blanked the Yellowjackets, striking out 14. He helped his cause by going 3-for-4 at the plate and driving in a run. Nick Makovsky went 3-for-5 and Brody Ehrlich had a pair of hits for the Comets (4-3). Patrick Kean went 2-for-3 and scored two runs. Taylor Diguid had an RBI for Eldred (2-4).

Tri-Valley bats get red hot and bring the Bears a trio of wins

GRAHAMSVILLE, NY — The Bears began their week with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Fallsburg on April 18 in the first of a three-game divisional series.

Fred Moore’s two-out single garnered the win in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Trailing 4-1 going into the final inning, the Bears rallied when Justin Stubits led off with a double, stole second and scored on a wild pitch. Matt Smith went 3-for-3 in the game, and James Connolly got the win for the Bears (3-2, 1-0 OCIAA). In the middle game of the set, Comets’ hurler Donald Morton threw a six hitter as Fallsburg notched a 6-4 home win. Nick Makofsky had a double and a pair of RBI. Shane Weigand had two hits and an RBI for the Comets, who improved their record to 3-2 (1-1 OCIAA).

In the rubber game of the series on April 21, Tri-Valley’s Josh Smith went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs. Joe Garigliano went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Matt Smith scored twice. Danny Knox added an RBI as the Bears went on to win 11-6 and improved their record to 5-2 (2-1 OCIAA). Chris Gates, Dave Lucynski and Harris Seletsky each drove in RBIs for Fallsburg, 3-3 (1-2 OCIAA).

Finishing the week on a resounding note, Tri-Valley pounded Liberty 18-2. Matt Smith, Garigliano and Ian Exner all went 2-for-3. Garigliano knocked in two runs, and Smith scored three times, which helped him garner the win. He pitched five innings, scattering just five hits. Jason Garrett went 2-for-3 for Liberty (1-8). Tri-Valley’s record rose to 6-2.