J-D baseball wins regional, advances to first state final four

CENTRAL NEW YORK – Two Section III baseball champions set out on Saturday with the intent of making it to state championship weekend.

One got there, and it was historic. The other did not, and the way it happened only made it more difficult to experience.

Jamesville-DeWitt defeated Albany Academy 3-2 at Auburn’s Falcon Park and not only claimed the regional Class A title, but earned the program’s first-ever trip to the state final four.

Later that night at Onondaga Community College, Christian Brothers Academy was one out from victory in the Class AAA regional final, only to see Shenendehowa make up a five-run deficit and prevail 11-10.

It only figured that J-D would face another close, tense contest against Albany Academy, having pulled out one-run, walk-off victories over both South Jefferson (in the quarterfinals) and Camden (in the finals) on the way to it second straight sectional crown.

Having lost in this same regional round to Columbia a year ago by that same 3-2 margin, the Red Rams gave the ball to Le Moyne College-bound senior Luke VanMarter, who promptly threw three shutout innings to get J-D going.

Then, in the bottom of the third, the Rams went out in front, with the no. 8 and 9 hitters both getting big hits as Cole Jordan doubled and Tim Cooper followed up with a single.

Eamon Giblin, who had pitched a complete game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts to beat Massena 6-1 in the first regional game Thursday at Salmon River, then drilled a double that scored Jordan and Cooper. VanMarter then singled home Giblin.

As it turned out, VanMarter’s hit was the game-winner, for Albany Academy, down 3-0, would chip away with a run in the fourth and then strike again in the top of the seventh, cutting the Rams’ margin to one.

VanMarter stayed on the mound, though, and held the Cadets to six hits, overcoming three walks with 10 strikeouts and, in improving J-D’s record to 19-1, left it just two wins from a state title.

Next Friday at 4 p.m. at Union-Endicott High School, the Rams face Section IV’s Maine-Endwell in the state semifinals. The winner advances to the title game at 1 p.m. a day later at Binghamton’s Mirabito Stadium.

These were the kind of plans CBA was hoping to make, too, until one inning against Shenendehowa upended them.

All went well for six innings. The Brothers took full advantage of six Plainsmen errors, starting in the bottom of the second when it put across four runs, two of them coming home on Jack Landau’s single, to erase an early 1-0 deficit.

Over the course of the next three frames, Shen would put up runs and every time CBA would answer – a run in the third, three of them in the fourth and then two more on a Landau single and error in the fifth that stretched the lead to 10-5.

That’s where it was entering the top of the seventh, with Tom Menar again pitching in relief of Ben Lovell. But Menar got into trouble when an infield hit and RBI double by Cooper Reinisch made it 10-6, and Shen loaded the bases with nobody out.

Ryan Petrie entered to pitch and got a strikeout, only to walk Jordan Pazienza, which brought home a run. Still, when Ian Oehlschlaeger popped out, CBA was a single out from victory.

Up stepped Shen’s no. 4 hitter, Jason Clawson, who hit a fly ball to left field that looked like would end the game. Ben Snyder looked up – and indicated that he could not find the ball in the dusk.

The ball fell near Snyder and all three Plainsmen runners raced across the plate, tying it 10-10. Moments later, Brad Curtis singled home Clawson, and Shen had the lead, having scored six times to erase its five-run deficit.

R.J. Ensel, who had relieved starter James Redick in the fifth, gave up a two-out single to Mike Giamartino to put the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh. Then Landau hit a hard liner – right at Oehlschlager, who caught it to end the game and CBA’s season.