By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Greece Athena head coach Jason Bunting figured James Sciortino made one mistake on Tuesday. It didn’t matter much.
The senior right-hander left little to chance.
Sciortino allowed one run on seven hits over six innings and scored four runs as fifth-seeded Athena coasted to an 8-1 win over No. 2 seed Irondequoit in the Class A1 quarterfinals.
“He’s playing like a senior who’s driven and a senior who knows what it takes,” Bunting said. “He’s been on the varsity. This is his fourth year. He’s more of a coach to these guys than I am right now. I’m just letting him go.”
Sciortino struck out six and walked one. He retired seven of eight from the end of the third to the beginning of the sixth and set down 9 of the last 12 batters he faced.
“The fact that he’s getting ahead and the fact that he’s not afraid to throw his breaking ball behind in the count, ahead in the count, first pitch,” Bunting said of Sciortino’s effectiveness on the day. “He walked a guy on a 3-2 breaking ball was probably the one time I thought we should have went at them. He’s not afraid.”
He surrendered a leadoff single to Chad Gartland in the first. One out later, Nick Serce brought home the Eagles lone run of the day with a double. Sciortino settled in after that point and allowed multiple runners on base in just one of the remaining five innings he pitched. He retired six batters over that stretch in the infield.
“I let him throw what he wants to throw,” Bunting noted. “I don’t call his game. On occasion I’ll tell Ryan (Athena catcher Ballard) I want this pitch. But for the most part those guys are seniors that have been on this team for three years. I let them do it.”
“Cutter all day,” Ballard said of what was working for his battery mate. “Just painting the outside corner. We’d go fastball, cutter away and in with the curve. I didn’t think they could hit it. He just kept rolling.”
Sciortino tripled to lead the third and scored Athena’s first run to tie the game. One inning later, with a runner on second he was intentionally walked and eventually crossed home in a two-run frame. He worked another free pass in the fifth when the Trojans scored three more.
Any thought Irondequoit had of a rally was all but erased when Sciortino doubled off the fence in left to spark a two-run seventh.
“I just wanted to jump on the fastball,” said Sciortino who scattered four hits and collected bothe RBI with a home run and a triple in Athena’s 2-0 win over Hilton to close the regular season. “I was behind in the count and looking fastball.”
Casey Saucke struck out the side in a scoreless Irondequoit seventh to close the game. Saucke had a hit, walked twice and scored three runs in the game.
Ballard drove in two runs. Mike Ruta collected five RBI for the Trojans. Jorge Oropeza finished 2-for-5 with a stolen base. Jagger Nucci walked three times and scored once.
The win was the sixth straight for Athena (13-8).
“It feels great,” Sciortino said of the recent stretch. “We’re hot hitting. We’re playing together. We’re playing energetic. We’re doing well.”
Athena will take on the winner of No. 1 Canandaigua vs. No. 1 Brighton in the semifinals.
Serce had two hits in three at bats for Irondequoit (12-9). Chris Butler and Johnny Fernandes collected a single and a walk apiece. The game brought to a close the career of Tim Mabb, who will be retiring after more than 30 years in the Irondequoit program – the last 23 at the varsity level.
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