Croton rallies late, beats top-seeded Rye Neck for Section 1 Class B baseball championship

PURCHASE – It’s been a long time coming.

After coming up short in the final a year ago, Croton-Harmon took full advantage of a return trip, rallied in the late innings Saturday and won the Section 1 Class B championship with a 5-3 win over top-seeded Rye Neck at Purchase College.

What a ride.

“This means a lot,” Tigers shortstop Sam Levine said. “I think we did well today.”

It was the program’s first sectional title since 1981.

“You know how hard it is to get here and lose and get back here again?” Croton head coach Eric Rosen asked. “It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and I have kids at home. This win is right up there with getting married and having kids. It’s right there.”

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The Tigers had all the necessary momentum coming in after dethroning Albertus Magnus on Wednesday, but they struggled early against Panthers starter George Katsaros.

Rye Neck was up 3-0 through four innings.

Andrew Kim started for the Tigers and battled for 3 1/3 innings before giving way to Mekhi Smithwick, who gave up one hit the rest of the way.

That was clutch.

So was a two-run double off the bat of Korey DeBeer, who gave his teammates a needed jolt of adrenaline. Levine followed with a run-scoring triple.

New game.

“The way that I see it is when something positive happens it starts a spiral,” Smithwick said. “Korey gets that double and it started the spiral. Once we get started, we don’t stop.”

Levine broke the 3-3 deadlock with a two-out single in the seventh.

“I’ll remember that forever,” he said. “It feels unbelievable. I knew what needed to be done and I got the job done.”

Smithwick added insurance when he drew a bases-loaded walk, then went back to the mound and retired the side in order.

What it means

Croton has a few days to reset before heading to Cantine Field in Saugerties on Thursday for a NYSPHSAA regional semifinal against Section 9 champion Spackenkill.

Player of the game

Levine collected the MVP hardware after going 4 for 4, but it was the double from DeBeer that raised the level of belief in the Tigers’ dugout. The senior right fielder also drew a pair of walks and scored twice.

By the numbers

No. 3 Croton (18-5): Andrew Kim gave up six hits and three runs. … The top of the order – Aidan Callahan, DeBeer and Levine – accounted for six of the Tigers’ seven hits. … Andrew Sur went 1 for 2 and drew a walk.

No. 1 Rye Neck (19-4): Katsaros lasted 6 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits and five runs while striking out eight and walking six. … Evan Janowitz went 2 for 3 with an RBI and one run scored. … Daniel Zyngier drew three walks and drove in a run. … Daniel Stone drove in a run with a first inning sacrifice fly.

They said it

“It really came down to the semis and seeing Albertus there,” Smithwick said of this run. “We had to beat them to get here today. We had to show people we were underestimated and that we could make it here and win. That’s what we did today.”

“Mekhi was a catcher last year in the sectional final,” Rosen said. “One of our top pitchers had an arm issue and didn’t throw for us this year. We have a younger catcher we like and Mekhi said he could pitch. We played around with that a little bit on our Florida trip and there you go. He was lights out today.”

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Croton rallies late, beats top-seeded Rye Neck for Section 1 Class B baseball championship