Tri-County clinches state tournament spot
By JAMES A. ELLIS, The Leader-HeraldArticle Photos
AMSTERDAM - The Tri-County Bees are heading back to the state tournament.
The Bees (20-12), who placed third in the 2007 postseason baseball tournament, locked up a berth in the tournament with a hard-fought 13-9 victory over the N.Y. Capital District Knights in Eastern New York Travel Baseball League action Monday night at Shuttleworth Park.
"That win secures a berth for us in the state tournament," Tri-County coach Dave Gage said. "We had to battle tonight, but these guys showed they were not going to quit. Our relief pitchers were working on short rest, but fought through it to get the job done."
Tri-County now waits to find out its first-round opponent in the tournament that starts Thursday in Bethlehem.
After surrendering a pair of first-inning runs to the Knights on a hit, an error and three walks, the Bees put six runs on the board in their first at-bat.
Joe Rogers struck out, but alertly sprinted to first on a dropped third strike. Casey Rivera delivered a one-out single and Jordan Kaplan drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. Pat Sperow and Brandon Eutermarks drew back-to-back walks to push two runs across and tie the game at two. Kurt Kowalczyk connected for a two-RBI double and Matt Gage followed with a two-RBI single to give the Bees a 6-2 advantage.
Kowalczyk settled in on the mound, facing seven batters over the next two innings, allowing one hit and striking out three.
Tri-County tacked on runs in the second and third innings to open its lead to 8-2.
Rogers opened the second inning with a walk and raced home on Dom Bianchi's double, while Sperow reached on an error in the third. He scored when Matt Gage legged out an infield single when the ball hit the first base bag and bounced away from Knight's first baseman Blake Wadsworth.
The Knights got one run back in the fourth. Mike Symer and Pete Quinn drew walks to open the inning. Matt Pucanus lifted a fly ball to center field that Kaplan collected and fired to second to double off Symer as he advanced toward third, but Symer was called out for not tagging up on the play. Quinn accounted for the Knights' run by stealing second and advancing on a pair of wild pitches to cut the lead to 8-3.
Tri-County made the most of four walks and an error to put two more runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth to up the score to 10-3.
The Knights batted around in the top of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run home run by Quinn, to put four runs on the board to cut the Bees' lead to 10-7.
Tri-County loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but could not deliver a run to the plate as left-handed relief pitcher Wadsworth recorded a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam.
The Knights closed the gap to a run, 10-9 in the top of the sixth.
Nolan opened the inning with a single and advanced on Nick Cerone's groundout and went to third on a passed ball. Zack Caplan drew a walk and stole second, while Cerone scampered home when the throw to second bounced into center field. Caplan scored on Symer's double. Quinn followed with a single to put runners on first and third.
Bees relief pitcher Casey Rivera stepped off the rubber to catch Quinn in a rundown between first and second. Symer crept down the third base line. Shortstop Brandon Eutermarks broke off the rundown and fired the ball to catcher D.J. Hoagboon in time to tag Symer for the final out and hold a 10-9 lead.
"That step-off play was huge for us," coach Gage said. "It brought the momentum back on our side."
Tri-County got some breathing room in the bottom of the sixth.
Kaplan led off with a single through the left side and Eutermarks and Steve Dygon drew walks to load the bases with one out. Kaplan raced down the line as Matt Gage pushed a bunt to the first-base side of the pitchers mound. Kaplan was across the plate to make the score 11-9 by the time relief pitcher Scott Nolan fielded the ball to throw out Gage.
R.J Pingitore closed out the Bees' scoring with a two-RBI single to left-center for the final 13-9 score.
"I thought we hit the ball well tonight," coach Gage said. "We were patient at the plate. That is why we got so many walks [12]. We have been a little over-aggressive lately at the plate, so it was good to see some patience."
Rogers finished the game scoring three runs without the benefit of a hit. Rivera and Matt Gage collected two singles apiece, wile Bianchi and Kowalczyk both doubled. Pingitore and Kaplan rounded out the Bees' hitting with singles.
Scott Nolan collected three singles and scored three runs for the Knights, while Quinn had three RBIs on a home run and a single.
Tri-County Bees 13, N.Y. Capital District Knights 9
Capital District200 142 0 - 9 11 3
Tri-County611 203 x - 13 8 3
Caplan, Wadsworth (4), Nolan (6) and Tobin; Kowalczyk, Sperow (5), Bianchi (5), Rivera (6) and Hoagboon.
