Johnstown gets past Gloversville, 5-1
Four-run sixth inning lifts Sir Bills past HuskiesBy JAMES A. ELLIS, The Leader-Herald
POSTED: May 13, 2008
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The Sir Bills combined aggressive base running, a pair of bunts and a home run to take the lead and finish the Foothills Council regular season with a 5-1 victory.
The win gives Johnstown a 7-7 Foothills Council record and drops Gloversville, who finished third in the league, to 9-5.
The teams will start play in the Foothills Council tournament Wednesday. Johnstown will host Queensbury, while Gloversville will host Glens Falls. The Sir Bills are the defending tournament champions.
Johnstown took an early lead in Monday night’s game when Jordan Hill tripled to deep right-center just out of reach of a diving attempt by the Huskies’ Josh Schrum. Hill crossed the plate with the game’s first run on Colin Lombardoni’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 Johnstown advantage.
The Huskies got the run back with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.
John Williams reached on an error and stole second. He came around to score the tying run on Ryan McCloskey’s single to center field.
McCloskey stole second and third, but was left stranded as Johnstown starting pitcher Wes Clark struck out Joe LaPorta after he worked the count full.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Sir Bills got the break they were looking for in the top of the sixth.
Lombardoni beat the throw to first when Huskies second baseman Matt Baldwin bobbled his grounder.
Lombardoni stole second and advanced to third on Jake Arrunategui’s bunt single.
Arrunategui stepped off first and was caught in a run down when Lombardoni broke for home on the delayed steal. LaPorta broke off the run down and fired the ball to Richard Murray at the plate, but Lombardoni slid under the tag to put Johnstown up 2-1. Arrunategui continued on to second and advanced to third on Jason Biron’s ground out.
The Sir Bills went to the small ball attack for their third run of the game.
Arrunategui raced toward home as Ryan Brown squared around to bunt. Brown’s bunt popped up a short distance down the third base line. McCloskey, who was playing third for Gloversville, raced with Arrunategui down the baseline and dove for the ball. The ball hit off the heel of his glove and despite a second effort to grab the ball, fell to the ground as Arrunategui slid across the plate for a 3-1 lead. Brown was running on the play and stood on second at the end of the play.
“It was supposed to be a suicide squeeze, but I didn’t get the ball down,“ Brown said. “We have been doing that a lot. I bat in the two spot and coach likes my bunting. I was running out of the box and when there was no one at first or second I just kept going.”
The Sir Bills used a different approach to put their fourth and fifth runs on the board — the long ball.
Casey Rivera drove the ball to the deepest part of Husky Field and circled the bases as the Gloversville outfielders chased down the ball and made a throw home as Rivera crossed the plate for a two-run homer.
“That was a shot,” Johnstown coach Aaron Mraz said. “He [Rivera] has been hitting the ball well lately and Ryan is kind of like a drag bunter and that play is something we have worked on in practice. The bunt play is more exciting, but the long ball definitely makes it easier.”
The Huskies recovered to shut down the Johnstown rally when center fielder Gabe Wells raced in to make a diving catch on a drive by Clark and McCloskey snagged a hard grounder at third and fired across the diamond for the final out.
The Huskies got the leadoff runner on base in the top of the sixth when Baldwin hit a hard grounder to shortstop Jordan Hill. Hill’s throw drew first baseman Trevor Bruce’s foot off the bag, giving Baldwin the base.
Wells followed with a grounder to third and Rivera fielded and threw to second to get Baldwin, but Wells beat the throw to first to prevent the double play. The Huskies’ sixth-inning effort fell short as Clark struck out the next two batters to end the threat.
The Sir Bills loaded the bases in the top of the seventh without a hit, but could not push another run across the plate.
The Sir Bills defense dug in in the bottom of the seventh and set the Huskies down in order to secure the victory.
“Since the first Gloversville game, I think we were 1-5 at that time, we have really been playing well,” Mraz said. “It is going to be a hard chore to repeat [as Foothills tournament champions], but we are going to go in there and compete. The kids know they can compete with everyone in the league. We will probably go in a four or five seed.”
Rivera led Johnstown’s four-hit attack with his two-run homer. Hill added a triple, while Brown and Arrunategui singled. Clark spun a two-hit, eight- strikeout performance on the mound while hitting one batter and walking none.
The Huskies two hits came off the bats of Wells and McCloskey, both singles. On the mound, Eric Simek allowed four hits, struck out three, walked three and hit one batter.
“Eric threw well tonight. He has been getting better all season long,” Gloversville coach Jim Robare said. “The thing is when we have Eric out there, our best defensive team is on the field and their big inning started with two errors. You can’t win ball games when you are throwing the ball around, especially the way they [Johnstown] have been playing. They are going to take advantage of those things. I thought Ryan had that ball [on the bunt play]. The effort was definitely there.“
The Gloversville defense showed its strength in the top of the fourth inning, by turning a double play.
Gloversville will enter Foothills tournament play Wednesday with an 11-6 overall record.
“We will go into the tournament as the third seed and will probably see Glens Falls here Wednesday,” Robare said. “We will comeback and fight on Wednesday and see what happens.”
Johnstown 5, Gloversville 1
Johnstown 001 004 0 — 5 4 3
Gloversville 000 100 0 — 1 2 2
Clark and Cook; Simek and R. Murray.
Foothills Council
Queensbury 14, Broadalbin-Perth 1
QUEENSBURY — Queensbury hammered out 12 hits against Broadalbin-Perth, including Pat Murphy’s three-run homer.
Queensbury posted eight runs in the second inning to go ahead 11-0. B-P (3-15 overall, 2-12 Foothills Council) scored its lone run in the seventh inning.
For B-P, Nick Wiltey and Corey Caswell recorded the team’s hits.
Queensbury 14, Broadalbin-Perth 1
Broadalbin-Perth 000 000 1 — 1 2 3
Queensbury 380 021 x — 14 12 1
Brelo, Samples (3) and Brower; Agans, Cronin (5), Davis (7) and Clear.
Western Athletic Conference
Fort Plain 9, St. Johnsville 0
FORT PLAIN — St. Johnsville (8-9 overall, 5-9 WAC) managed just two hits in seven innings at Fort Plain.
Both Ryan Hudyncia and Tyler Barhydt recorded two RBIs for Fort Plain (13-2 overall, 12-1 WAC).
Adam Cutspec had two hits, including a double. Barhydt doubled and Hudyncia had two hits for the Hilltoppers.
St. Johnsville’s two hits were recorded by Bernie Bennett and Jaxson Smith.
Fort Plain 9, St. Johnsville 0
St. Johnsville 000 000 0 — 0 2 2
Fort Plain 117 000 x — 9 8 0
Vicciarelli, Bentz (3) and Smith; D. Baker, Kane (4), Thomas (6) and Hudyncia, B. Baker (6).
Fonda-Fultonville 19, Mayfield 1
MAYFIELD — Josh Nethaway and Kevin Hanson both chipped in with three hits as Fonda-Fultonville rapped out 15 hits.
The Braves (12-5 overall, 11-3 WAC) also got two hits from James Sheehan one of them a double, and two hits from Mike Kaczor.
Mayfield (6-11 overall, 6-10 WAC) got two hits from D.J. Hoagboon, including a double, and a double from Kris Toscano.
Fonda-Fultonville 19, Mayfield 1
Fonda-Fultonville 320 404 6 — 19 15 0
Mayfield 000 001 0 — 1 4 6
J. Nethaway, Kaczor (5), Ke. Hanson (6) and L. Nethaway; Cast, Rose (4), Casimiro (5), Abel (6), Ryba (7) and Hoagboon.
Galway 7, Canajoharie 5
CANAJOHARIE — Galway led 7-1 after the top of the sixth inning, but Canajoharie came back to within two runs.
Canajoharie (12-5 overall, 10-4 WAC) got three hits and two RBIs from Dane O’Neil, two hits and two RBIs from Zach Fleischer and a triple from Zach Weaver.
Joe Migdal hit a two-run homer for Galway.
Galway 7, Canajoharie 5
Galway 010 132 0 — 7 10 0
Canajoharie 000 102 2 — 5 12 3
Weaver and LaFleur; Howard, Oeser (4), O’Neil (7) and Fleischer.
Big 10
Schenectady 8, Amsterdam 7
SCHENECTADY — Schenectady matched Amsterdam’s fifth-inning rally with three runs in the sixth, taking the lead back and holding on for the win.
Ryan Zielinski had three hits, two of them doubles, for Schenectady (7-8 overall, 5-5 Big 10) and Ryan Quinn had two hits and two RBIs.
Bryan Davey hit safely three times, including a double, and Ethan Kreisel had two doubles for Amsterdam (9-7 overall, 7-5 Big 10).
Schenectady 8, Amsterdam 7
Amsterdam 120 031 0 — 7 9 2
Schenectady 311 003 x — 8 8 2
McNamara, Kreisel (6) and Whitty; Andi, Zielinski (5) and Jurczynski.
Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference
Johnsburg 15, Wells 3
WELLS — Josh Harvey’s two home run game on a 3-for-3 day helped lift Johnsburg to the win over Wells. Mike Couzens was 2-for-4 with a double for Johnsburg (5-5 overall, 5-1 MVAC).
Wells (0-8 overall, 0-7 MVAC) got two hits from Ryan Woodward and Shane Raymond was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.
Johnsburg 15, Wells 3
Johnsburg 431 106 0 — 15 9 4
Wells 201 000 0 — 3 7 7
Greco, Harvey (5) and Sherrick; Raymond, Williamsen (5) and Weaver.
Center State Conference
Old Forge 12, Oppenheim-Ephratah 1
OPPENHEIM — Eight Oppenheim-Ephratah errors helped six Old Forge hits turn into 12 runs.
Kyle Riedman struck out eight batters in six innings of work for Old Forge (8-5 overall, 6-2 CSC-IV).
O-E (0-14 overall, 0-8 CSC-IV) got a double from Mo Conte. The Hawks will play Wednesday at Remsen and Thursday against Northville at home.
Old Forge 12, Oppenheim-Ephratah 1
Old Forge 360 201 0 — 12 6 2
Oppenheim-Ephratah 010 000 0 — 1 6 8
Riedman, Josephson (7) and Brosemer; Brown, Seeley (5) and Conte.
Dolgeville 3, Ilion 2, 10 innings
DOLGEVILLE — Two 10th-inning errors by Ilion helped Dolgeville push across the winning run in the third extra frame.
A fielding bobble at shortstop allowed Kelsey Brandow to score in the 10th. James Normoyle and Paul Barnes both had two hits for Dolgeville (2-11 overall, 2-7 CSC-I). Barnes had a double.
Dolgeville will host Herkimer Wednesday.
Ilion is now 3-11 overall and 1-8 in the CSC.
Dolgeville 3, Ilion 2, 10 innings
Ilion 001 001 000 0 — 2 6 4
Dolgeville 000 011 000 1 — 3 9 2
Gookins and Crim; Weaver, Barnes (6), Brandow (7) and Normoyle.
