Section Nine Class B Baseball Semifinals

Happy trail’s end

Liberty’s dreams of glory vanish under the blazing sun and defensive lapses

By RICHARD A. ROSS

PINE PLAINS, NY - Fire and heat have been no strangers to Liberty baseball. Two days prior to their arrival at stifling Pine Plains to encounter the number-one seeded Bombers for a chance to get to the finals, the Indians followed a scorched-earth policy and battered Sullivan West with its red-hot bats and aces-high pitching from Justin Green.

But now under the sweltering heat of near June, Liberty had to find enough firepower to overcome a school with a great baseball pedigree.

Pine Plains, now in Class B, won the Class C state title in 2002 after roaring through its division, section and the Southeastern regional. That was the third consecutive year they had made it to the state finals. To put it mildly, baseball has been the school’s standard-bearer over the years, as Liberty’s team was for its own school this spring.

While Pine Plains’ state title was now five years past, the history of a proud tradition looms large when a team hails from a dugout with placards proudly above it that attest to its success.

That said, Liberty was in the here and now. As the first inning got underway, it seemed that the tribe’s flame still burned bright. Justin Garritt worked out a walk off sophomore lefty starter Allen Lekocevic, who was feeling the heat and the pressure of the biggest game of his young career. Lekocevic wasn’t coach Phil Amelio’s number-one guy, but he was the guy to take the ball and give his team quality innings so that the Bombers didn’t have to use their top guns before the finals.

Justin Katz, who was plunked, quickly joined Garritt on the base paths. A single from Evan Kirsch, who had three hits and a trio of RBI against Sullivan West, got the first run in as this writer watched from afar, trying to zone in on the Sullivan West-Pine Plains softball game at the field closer to the school. Swirling images of red and white uniforms on the base paths suggested a big Liberty first inning.

Scott Hamlin walked as Lekocevic was expending valuable pitches. With the bases loaded, Trevor Tompkins drew a walk to plate run number two. But the inning ended prematurely as Justin Mills banged into a double play, allowing Lekocevic and the Bombers to escape, down by a pair of runs.

Liberty coach John Wilhelm sent Kelly Hamlin to the mound. Hamlin gave his team a great pitching outing, half of the formula for a winning effort given the early lead. The other half would have to come from fine defense.

Unfortunately, both a solid defense and a timely offense had a peek-a-boo presence with Liberty this year, and on this most important day, both vanished. Pine Plains tied the game in the fourth inning when a trio of errors led to a pair of unearned runs as Jimmy Boyles and Matt Patterson scored.

Still fired up behind its senior leaders, who had already committed themselves to foregoing their senior trip’s departure for Virginia Beach in favor of playing for a Section Nine championship should the team advance, Liberty gathered and encouraged one another to fight on.

“We’re not done,” said Garritt, ever the team’s spark.

But the flame simply would not ignite.

Lekocevic’s fastball seemed to have Liberty’s on-again off-again bats swinging off balance as they popped up or grounded out. A chance to go ahead with a pinch runner on third that did not tag up on a fly ball hit by Tomkins would prove to be another key blunder. In situations like that, you simply have to make the other team beat you with a throw. At the time of that ill-fated play, Liberty had runners on second and third with only one out. Tomkins’ out made it two and Kelly Hamlin grounded out to second to end Liberty’s chance to shoot the Bombers down in their own skies.

Pine Plains capitalized on a walk and an error in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. Liberty cried for fire, but didn’t even get a wafting trail of smoke in its latter two innings. In the top of the seventh, a strong wind picked up, auguring perhaps a coming storm.

Liberty fans, of which it should be noted there were many, saw this as a potential omen of change. But Lekocevic struck out Garritt and Katz, who went down without swinging, but then walked Kirsch, who moved up to second on a passed ball. With the tying run at the plate in the person of senior slugger Scott Hamlin, Amelio decided not to allow Liberty to deny his team a chance to advance. Instead, he brought in his closer, Tim Reynolds, who got Hamlin to fly out to left center to end the game.

Wilhelm gathered his disheartened tribe around him and praised them for their fine season. The body language of the players and the evidence of some voiceless tears streaming down their faces told the real story.

Liberty knew it had let one get away. While the regular season trio of winnable games to Sullivan West stung, this loss was far more staggering, especially for the seniors who missed playing in the championship game they worked so hard to reach. Wilhelm aptly voiced what everyone knew: lack of timely hitting and porous defense were the team’s undoing. They weren’t new ailments; they had never left the team’s system all year long.

For the younger players, as well as the coach, the missed opportunity will linger as they pick up the pieces and start all over again next season without the benefit of those who will now depart for new venues.

It was a great season to be sure, one to be proud of and nothing, not even this ultimate disappointing loss, can take that away.

Liberty ended its season at 14-8. Pine Plains improved to 13-4. Its only losses this season came against Spackenkill, Red Hook, Rondout Valley and Webutuck. The Bombers defeated Spackenkill 5-4 for the Class B title. The Spartans had ousted Burke in the semifinal.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of Liberty-Pine Plains photos.