Shenendehowa baseball comes back from the brink of defeat to force Game 3 in Class AAA finals

TROY, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — You simply can never count the Shenendehowa baseball team out of a game.

Six outs from elimination in the Section II, Class AAA championship series and trailing Saratoga Springs 3-0, the Plainsmen erupted for 10 runs over the final two innings of Game 2 Friday night at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, forcing a decisive third game on Sunday.

The biggest hit of the night came from a player who didn’t even start the game for Shen: substitute third baseman Cooper Reinisch.

With already two runs home in the inning and the bases loaded with two outs, Reinisch wrapped an 0-1 offering from Saratoga’s Richard Rossi deep into the nighttime Troy sky. The ball landed in the Blue Streaks’ bullpen – a grand slam that put the Plainsmen in the driver’s seat, 6-3.

“I wasn’t trying to hit a grand slam; I wasn’t trying to hit a line drive,” said Reinisch. “Everybody’s like, “Oh, hit the ball the other way.” “No.” I’m just trying to hit the ball in general. Saw the ball cut over the middle, and took a good swing; the best swing I could’ve.”

Shen added four more insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning, providing reliever Maximum Palermo plenty of breathing room on the mound in the home half of the inning. He recorded the last three outs, securing the 10-3 win.

All three of the Plainsmen pitchers battled through some control issues, but found ways to fight through numerous jams with minimal damage done by the Blue Streak bats. Starting pitcher R.J. Ensel walked six, but only allowed one earned run in four innings of work. Colin Barry managed to work out of a bases loaded, no-out scenario in the fifth, allowing just one run. And Palermo faced bases-loaded situations in both the sixth and seventh frames, but didn’t allow a run.

Persistence and patience were key for Shen’s hitters to finally break through against Saratoga’s starting pitcher, Louis Betit, who baffled the Plainsmen for the first five innings.

A Jason Clawson one-out double in the sixth on an 0-2 count moved Jordan Pazienza, who led off the inning with a single, up to third base. Then the patience came in. Brad Curtis was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Amaar Bhusri was promptly plunked as well, and Shen had its first run.

Ryan Cronin sacrificed himself for a run with a long fly ball to right field, plating Clawson. A 10-pitch at-bat for Blake Mello resulted in a walk, which re-loaded the bases for Reinisch, and ‘Toga went to its bullpen.

The rest, as they say, is history.

“Our guys just kept grinding, kept grinding, and then it opened up for us,” said head coach Greg Christodulu. “Senior’s did a great job.”

Of the four Plainsmen who drove in runs, three were seniors: Reinisch, who had a team-high four RBI, Cronin, who had three, and Mello tacked on one. Bhusri, a junior, who also entered the game in a pinch-hit capacity, had the other two, while also scoring two runs.

The first two games of the series have played out in an eerily similar fashion to last year’s. Saratoga took Game 1 of that series, 4-2, before Shen responded in game two with a 10-2 win. The final scores of this series: 4-1 ‘Toga and 10-3 Shen.

That’s certainly caught the eye of Christodulu.

“I’m looking at the scoreboard, I was like, “it’s starting to replicate last year’s scenario. They [Saratoga] win Game 1. We come back and win Game 2 with a couple of runs. And hey, we’ll see what happens Sunday. We’ll be looking forward to it.”

And what happened in the rubber match last year? Shen emerged with a 3-1 win to take the section title.

First pitch of Game 3 Sunday at ‘The Joe’ is set for 7:00 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NEWS10 ABC.