CLASS AA AND CLASS B STATE BASEBALL
Clarence baseball loses title game, Fredonia falls in semi
BINGHAMTON — Pride, not disappointment, was the predominant emotion displayed by both the Clarence and Fredonia baseball teams Saturday, despite losses in the state tournament.
In Class B, Fredonia was defeated, 4-2, by Westhill of Section III (Syracuse area) in the semifinals, while Clarence went down, 12-2, at the hands of Section I (Westchester County) champion Mamaroneck in the Class AA final. The Red Devils had previously defeated Columbia of Section III, 2-1, in the semifinals.
Clarence’s run was ended by a Tigers team that won its second straight Class AA title. Mamaroneck is 74-10 in the past four seasons, with just four of those losses coming in New York.
“That’s an awful good baseball team,” Clarence coach Dave Smith said. “I think when a team like that comes at you, in puts you back on your heels. I don’t necessarily think it was jitters. I think that team just applied pressure.”
The Tigers (23-4-1 overall) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, led by an RBI triple off the bat of catcher Mike Rosenfeld. That was all the run support starter Eric Windsor needed. Windsor pitched a complete game, giving up seven hits and striking out five in improving to 4-0 on the season.
The Red Devils (22-7) scored once in the second and again in the fourth on an RBI single by Andrew Lawrence, but couldn’t sustain much else against Windsor.
Despite the loss, Smith and his players had their heads held high walking off the field.
“I think some of our kids will be telling their kids about this experience,” he said.
The Red Devils got a chance to play for the title thanks to a dominant performance by Zach Lauricella in the semifinals. The sophomore pitched a complete game, allowing just five hits to go with seven strikeouts in the win.
“I battled the whole game,” Lauricella said. “I felt strong.”
Both of Clarence’s runs came in the first, one on an RBI double by Lauricella to score Matthew Creenan and later on a sacrifice fly by Adam Urschel.
“It was nice to get two runs in the first inning and show everybody we belong here. It gave our guys a lot of confidence,” Smith said. “Ultimately those two runs held out because Zach threw a good game. He gritted it out and we made some plays in the field.”
In the Class B game, Fredonia appeared on the verge of an impressive win until a seventh-inning collapse. The Hillbillies (22-8) led, 2-0, going into the final frame thanks to solo home runs by Anthony Polvino (fourth inning) and Vincent Conti (fifth inning).
In the top of the seventh, Westhill got two runners on base thanks to a hit batter and a bloop single. Hillbillies starter Corey King then gave up an RBI single before departing.
Westhill’s Mike Decarr greeted Fredonia reliever Chris DiRusso with a three-run homer.
“We won a couple games in the playoffs this year in the seventh and today I guess was just the other team’s day to do that to us,” Fredonia coach Vince Gullo said.
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