Baseball

The great beyond

Liberty’s fine season ends in loss to Red Hook

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIBERTY, NY — Sometimes in the middle of a downpour, it’s hard to remember how brightly the sun shines when the clouds blow away. When our hopes and dreams are dampened, we can lose sight of how that gloom can be renewed with promise and fulfillment and easily forget what preceded the current storm.

It is with this perspective that one must examine Liberty’s baseball sectional loss to Red Hook on May 31, viewing it in the context of the wonderful events that led up to it and peering ahead into a future, rife with the promise of more success.

Examining the story under just such a lens, the hapless 12-2 defeat, which ended Liberty’s fine 16-8 season, can be seen for what it was: another step along the road toward a future that is apt to yield far more sun than rain.

The renaissance that Liberty’s athletics have undergone has been one of the most uplifting and remarkable stories of the 2007-08 school year and it was the school’s baseball team that applied the first strokes of bright red to the faded tableau of Liberty’s recent sports picture.

Though last year’s amazing season ended with a disappointing loss to Pine Plains, the stage was set for a dramatic turnaround. All that was needed was the right leadership to point the way.

Enter athletic director Jason Semo, whose energy and vision meshed perfectly with the fine young athletes, dedicated coaches and supportive community. Their united efforts began to turn Liberty culture toward its former halcyon days.

An undertaking of this magnitude could not be accomplished in one fell swoop, but the litany of successes turned in by a multitude of teams this year proved how far the school has come.

How fitting that baseball should be Liberty’s last hurrah for this storied year. Once again, Indians’ baseball loomed large as the team acquired a reputation for its solid hitting .

Hoping to carry Liberty further than a year ago, the Indians, led by its nexus of charismatic and dedicated seniors Trevor Tompkins, Justen Mills, Justin Katz, Michael Dunnigan and Abi Rubio, took to their home field under threatening skies in front of a large supportive crowd to face Red Hook.

“This is where you wanted to be,” John Wilhelm told his team prior to the game. “You earned it, so let’s go out and play hard for seven innings. No matter what happens, we’re really proud of you.”

Liberty’s strength has been its hitting as it was in the dramatic sweep of Sullivan West, but its defense and pitching have been its Achilles heels. These resurfaced to hinder the Indians’ effort against a team that got fine pitching from starter Dennis Cohen, and nearly flawless defense from its squad, which included four freshmen and three sophomores.

Red Hook got off to a fast start against Liberty starter Chris Lake as it scored three runs in the first inning, fueled, in part, by a two-run homer from Greg Search. Lake faced eight batters and yielded four hits in the frame.

Liberty got one run back in the bottom of the inning on a two-out single by Mills. Trying to rally with two outs would be problematic all day. Tompkins followed with a single, but a strikeout by Dunnigan left two on base as the inning ended.

Liberty struggled to get the big hit, but Red Hook came through when it needed to. After yielding a lead-off single to Ryan Dalton and a walk to Matt McDonald, Lake was replaced by Liberty iron man Tompkins.

A wild pitch moved the runners up and Cohen hit a RBI single. Another passed ball made it 5-1 as the rain began to come down heavier.

Tompkins got out of the inning, but the Indians failed to score in the rain-delayed bottom of the frame. Rubio reached on an E-5 but he was stranded on third as Cohen struck out the side.

Liberty held Red Hook at bay in the third inning. A RBI single by Tompkins made it 5-2.

Liberty blanked Red Hook over the next three innings and a 6-4-3 double play ended Red Hook’s fifth inning.

Liberty had its big chance in the bottom of the fifth as Search came on in relief of Cohen and got the first two outs before singles by Evan Kirsch and Mills put runners at the corners.

Red Hook coach Ron Coon decided to pound Tompkins inside and even risk hitting him. “Let’s make someone else beat us.” Tompkins represented the tying run. Search hit Tompkins to load the bases but Dunnigan banged into a 4-6 force out to end Liberty’s only real threat.

A pair of Liberty errors in the sixth led to the ultimate demise. Red Hook scored four in the sixth and another three in the seventh as Liberty unravelled. Kirsch relieved Tompkins in the seventh. He expended upward of 45 pitches and never found his comfort zone.

Red Hook (13-6), advanced to play Pine Plains on June 3.

“We had a good year,” said Wilhelm, “But we’ve given teams too many outs and put ourselves in a position where we’d have to out hit our mistakes. In sectionals good pitching always takes care of good hitting.”

Words fall far short of extolling Liberty’s accomplishments, in particular those evinced by its fine seniors. Though this marks the end of their high school playing years, the dividends derived from teamwork, perseverance and hard work will serve them greatly in years to come.

They’ve helped pave the next segment of road toward a bright future. Though that road is yet unfinished, given the fine quality of its recent construction and the promise of more such fine work to come, its chances of reaching the great beyond of a new vista seem all but assured.

Bulldogs season ends with tough loss to Iron Dukes

MARLBORO, NY — Rain on May 31 postponed number seven-seeded Sullivan West’s quarterfinal game against second-seeded Marlboro. The game was played on June 1 and ended up as a pitcher’s duel between Sullivan West’s Brad Reimer and Marlboro’s Rich Morris. Morris would allow only two hits over six innings, one of which was a game-tying two-run homer by Mark Tesseyman in the fourth inning.

Marlboro’s Sean Cunningham had given the Iron Dukes a 2-0 lead with a RBI double A single, stolen base and a passed ball allowed Luca Bianco to break the tie in the fifth inning. Closer Mike Surman struck out the side in the seventh to seal Marlboro’s win over valiant Sullivan West, which has suffered through great adversity this spring.

The Bulldogs ended their season at 12-8.