Elite Champion Tournament Baseball

Cougars win final two but miss playoffs

Kushetsky fires a shutout in first game as Cougar bats come alive

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY, NY - There’s a world of difference between preserving your season and playing a game that doesn’t figure into your destiny.

With their backs to the wall on July 26, the Catskill Cougars needed to defeat Middletown Babe Ruth-Black to keep hope alive for the playoffs. The Cougars needed to beat Middletown on consecutive days and hope that the Hudson Valley Vipers would lose their last game. Middletown was already in the playoff picture.

The Cougars, a feisty mix of local talent coached by Todd Cook and Mike McGuire, answered the bell and outplayed Middletown in every facet of the game.

Veteran pitcher Mike Kushetsky took the mound and showed great location and a lively fastball. According to McGuire, Kushetsky is steady and thoughtful and while he might not have the same lively arm as young Jim Moloney or the same stuff as lefty Mike Cook, Kushetsky knows how to pitch in key situations and did just that on July 26.

Neither team was able to score in the first inning. After hitting leadoff batter Chris Mattern, Kushetsky induced a strike out and a double play to end Middletown’s opening frame.

Middletown pitcher Nate Judd slipped through the first with ease.

But Kushetsky’s opening inning effectiveness was just a preview. Through the five innings it took the Cougars to amass the requisite 10-run lead to foreshorten the game, he put up nothing but zeros as he stuck out five and walked one.

The Cougars got their first run in the bottom of the second, as Corey VanKeuren got on with a double and stole third. With Bo Murphy at the plate, VanKeuren stole home and slid under the tag for a one-zip lead.

That play typified the heads-up aggressive style advocated by McGuire, who constantly encouraged and advised from the coaching box at third.

Middletown threatened in the second, as Shawn Jamison lofted a double and went to third on a single by Matt Jayco, who then stole second. But Kushetsky bore down and struck out Judd to end the inning.

The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Justin Green led off with a single and promptly stole second. He scored on a single by Connor Noetzel.

In a vibrant fourth inning, the Cougars bared their teeth and scored five runs off Judd and reliever Chris Daly.

A walk to Shane Noetzel and a single by VanKeuren gave the Cougars runners at first and second with no one out. Noetzel scored on an errant throw and Bo Murphy drove in a second run with a single. After Judd issued a walk to Justin Green, Daly came on in relief. He promptly hit Kevin McGuire with a pitch to load the bases. A single by Kushetsky, a productive ground out by Noetzel and a single by Jason Garritt brought in the next three runs to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead after four innings.

In the fifth inning, back-to-back jacks from VanKeuren and Troy Kirchner resulted from balls hit deep to left. Kirchner showed enormous speed on the base paths as he tooled around for the round-tripper. After Daly issued a walk to Murphy, Jamison replaced him on the mound. Jamison loaded the bases by walking Kevin McGuire and Kushetsky. Noetzel plated the 10th run with a single. Middletown players argued that the ball was foul by a country mile.

With the game result clearly in the Cougars’ favor, Middletown players lined up to shake hands and prepare for the next Cougars game at Liberty on July 27.

VanKeuren led the Cougars by going three-for-three on the day with a single, double and a home run.

In prior meetings, Middletown won the first by the score of 3-1 at home on July 18, but the Cougars returned the favor two days later in Liberty with a 6-0 defeat of the Black. The Cougars’ record improved to 8-7-2 overall and 7-6-1 in the Hudson Valley Summer League. Middletown’s record fell to 10-9-2 overall.

In the game slated for July 27, it was once again do or die for the Cougars, who were missing Jim Moloney and Garrett Owen in the July 26 game. Moloney and Owen currently held the team’s top batting averages with both hitting over .400. Both players were on hand for the final game, but it was Bo Murphy who dealt the big blow with a grand slam as the Cougars mounted an offensive barrage against Middletown.

After two scoreless innings, the Cougars erupted for four runs in the third and added three more in the fourth, two in the fifth and three in the sixth as they made their case for playoff contention. The Cougars piled up 11 hits in the 12-2 victory.

Murphy also contributed an inning as a relief pitcher.

Jason Green pitched four innings and allowed only one unearned run. Kirchner and McGuire provided an inning each as the Cougars held back Moloney for a potential playoff game. Unfortunately, the Vipers won their last game and garnered the final playoff spot. The Cougars, who compiled a record of 9-7-2, were slated to complete their season with an exhibition game against the Vipers at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown on August 2.

In retrospect, the Cougars 3-1 home loss to the Vipers on July 24 was the deciding game in the Cougars’ failure to make it to the postseason. That loss was coupled with a doubleheader loss to the league-leading Delaware Valley Warriors on July 9 by the scores of 6-5 and 5-3.

Despite missing the playoffs, the Cougars played stellar baseball during their season. Mike Cook, Casey Pazzalia and Mike Prunka will be playing for the Sullivan County Generals this season.

Visit riverreportersports.com for more photos from the July 26 game.