Baseball

Bulldogs eye sectionals as new

Taking two-of-three from hard-hitting Liberty should be great preparation

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — Sometimes numbers can be extremely misleading. Take Liberty’s baseball record for example. Though the Indians didn’t make sectionals this year by virtue of their 3-17, 3-6 OICAA record, there probably weren’t many better hitting teams in Section Nine’s Class B.

After taking one of three games in their series against Division IV champion Burke, the Indians came back this week to ruin any vestige of hope Sullivan West might have had of capturing the Division IV title based on Burke’s defeat of Liberty in the series opener. The Bulldogs learned quickly not to take Liberty’s hitters lightly. A lack of good defense and inconsistent starting pitching has been Liberty’s downfall, not hitting. Liberty’s lineup hit the ball hard and often as the two teams battled this week in a three-game series.

Sullivan West dropped the series opener 6-4 at home on May 9 when Bulldogs’ starting pitcher Will O’Brien had to leave after two innings with tightness in his back. Garrett Owen relieved him. Sullivan West was behind from the beginning as Liberty scored a run in each of the first three innings, two in the fifth and another in the seventh. The Bulldogs rallied for three runs in the seventh inning but could not get over the top against Liberty starting pitcher Mike Kushersky. Offensively, the Indians got what they needed from Shane Noetzel, who had a pair of hits, and Jason Garritt, who scored two runs. Bulldogs Joe Meyer and Lloyd Shaffer had three hits apiece. Two of Shaffer’s hits were doubles and he had a pair of RBI.

Were it not for a two-run double by Jim Moloney in the top of the seventh inning of the second game, played on May 10, the Bulldogs might well have lost the series to Liberty. Matt Berger pitched a complete game and struck out six to garner the road win that tied the series at a game apiece. Shaffer went two-for-three and had an RBI. Steve Musso drove in a run as well. With the win, Sullivan West’s record improved to 9-7, 5-3 OCIAA while Liberty’s league record fell to 3-4 requiring them to win the rubber game if they were to retain any hopes of making it to the sectionals.

Moloney took the mound for the final game of the series, which was played before an enthusiastic home crowd at Lyons Field in Jeffersonville. Moloney gritted out the first couple of innings and seemed to be struggling to master his pitches. A double play got him out of the first inning, but he left a change up over the plate and Garritt sent it over the left field fence in the third inning. Casey Pazzalia greeted Moloney’s next pitch with a screamer over the third-base bag and Rob Silva followed with another single. It looked like Moloney might not make it out of the inning when Mike Kushersky’s single brought in two more runs to give Liberty a 3-0 lead. Fortunately Moloney induced a fly out from Connor Noetzel to end the inning.

Sullivan West came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, courtesy of a well-executed bunt by Kevin Brewer that scored Chris Franke. Garrett Owen drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. Moloney then settled in and delivered three scoreless innings.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third inning to take an 8-3 lead. Moloney helped his cause with a two-run triple that scored Berger and Shaffer, who both had singles before him. Owen drove in two more with a single. The other runs came in on a hit by John Glassel and a bases-loaded walk worked out by Brad Reimer. A beautiful five-four-three double play ended a Liberty threat in the fifth.

The relentless Indians did score three runs in the top of the sixth inning as Moloney began to tire. A double by Kevin McGuire plated one run, and a single by Kushersky knocked in two more, but a pretty 5-4 double play executed by Joe Meyer and Brewer ended the inning. Berger came on in relief to pitch a scoreless seventh to save the win for Moloney. Shaffer had an RBI. Rob Silva took the loss for Liberty, which effectively eliminated the Indians from sectional contention. Sullivan West 10-7, (6-3 OCIAA) will play non-league games this week against Eldred and Livingston Manor and is likely to be the four seed when the sectionals begin next week.

Tuxedo’s series sweep of Tri-Valley gives Tornadoes Division V title

TUXEDO, NY — It took an RBI single by Tuxedo’s Jon Beety in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel the Tornadoes to a 6-5 win over Tri-Valley on May 9. Tuxedo (13-6, 6-0 OCIAA) got great pitching from Mike Buckely who pitched three scoreless innings. Tri-Valley’s Matt Waldman singled in a run and Danny Knox scored twice for the Bears (9-6, 3-4 OCIAA). In the middle game of the series played in Grahamsville, Tuxedo trounced Tri-Valley 12-4 on May 10 with an outburst of eight runs in the top of the sixth inning. Matt Smith and Brandon Scott each had two hits and an RBI for the Bears (9-7. 3-5 OCIAA) as Tuxedo rolled its record to 14-3 (7-0 OCIAA). On May 12, Tuxedo made it a perfect three-for-three as they defeated Tri-Valley 5-2.

John Hirrell struck out six for Tuxedo and hit a three run homer. Justin Stubits had a solo home run for Tri-Valley (9-8, 3-6), who will make sectionals if they can maintain a .500 record overall as the season winds down.

Eldred’s Prunka keeps Yellowjackets’ sectional hopes alive and well

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY –—Mike Prunka and Livingston Manor’s Marvin Bonilla hooked up yet again with the same result as Prunka notched a startling 18 strike outs to propel Eldred (4-8, 3-2 OCIAA) to a Division VI win on May 9. The win qualified Eldred for baseball sectionals for the first time in 10 years. Patrick Kean homered to help Eldred. Bonilla struck out 11 and scored Manor’s only run. The Wildcats remained winless at 0-8 (0-4 OCIAA).

ELDRED, NY — The Yellowjackets’ division record ended up at 3-3 following a 9-3 home loss to S.S. Seward on May 10. Spartans’ lefty Kyle O’Sullivan pitched a four hitter and held Eldred at bay except for a three run first inning home run to Nick McCormick. Seward was paced by multi-hit games from Mickey Collins, Rich Paras and Bryan Folkl. Seward improved to 11-5 (4-1 OCIAA).

Burke takes Division IV title with win over O’Neill

GOSHEN, NY — For the second straight year, the Eagles are Division IV champions. With a convincing 10-1 win over James I. O’Neill on May 10, Burke (10-8, 6-2 OCIAA) successfully defended their Division title. James McFarlane pitched a five hitter and struck out eight. Erik Renfried went three-for-four including a home run and drove in three runs for the Eagles.