By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On contact, Angelo Morales was thinking sacrifice fly. The Gates Chili sophomore underestimated his strength.
Morales plated a pair of runs including the eventual game winner to cap a dramatic late-inning rally as No. 9 Gates preserved its season with an 11-9 victory over host No. 8 Greece Arcadia in Section V Class A1 action on Monday.
The sophomore catcher’s one-out double in the ninth inning drove in Aaron Henry and Vincent Lucyszyn to snap an eight-all tie.
“Honestly, I thought it was going to be caught,” he said. “When I saw his (Greece Arcadia centerfielder) back turn and I could see his numbers, I just got on my horse and went to second.”
That Morales had a chance to win the game in the ninth seemed unlikely in the seventh inning. Trailing 8-5 with nobody on base, the Spartans were down to their final strike.
Angelo Morales doubles to straight center. Two score on the play. @gcbaseball19 10-8. One out in the ninth. pic.twitter.com/uxXDoYLWxG
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 23, 2022
“There were some doubts,” Gates head coach Dean Dingee admitted. “This is a really special group, though. We’ve taken a beating this year, but every single day they come back to practice.
“We had to just get to the next man and as long as there’s a Spartan that’s coming up after us, that’s all we could do. That was the mantra that we took.”
Facing a two-strike count, Austin D’Ettore worked a full-count walk to start the seventh-inning comeback. Peter Dellafave followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit to two. Henry walked to put the tying run on base.
VIEW MORE JOE TERRITO PHOTOS HERE.
With runners going on contact, Lucyszyn’s seeing-eye single bounced into centerfield. The throw to get Dellafave at the plate was off-line, and Henry, who didn’t break stride coming around third, scored the tying run.
Vincent Lucyszyn’s seeing-eye single drives in a run. An error on the play scores another and the game is tied with two outs in the seventh. @gcbaseball19 8 @TitanBaseball 8 pic.twitter.com/5mhoAuMljA
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 23, 2022
“I knew if we could get back to the top of the lineup, anything can happen,” Dingee said. “And it did.”
Gates rallied from deficits of 3-1 and 6-3 before their final comeback.
“We’ve been gearing up for sectionals,” Dingee said. “We knew we were going to take some lumps. We have a young team. We knew that we’ve got be peaking at the 21st game. I can’t say enough about them What a group of kids.”
Lucyszyn finished 3-for-6 at the plate in the game, The senior drove in a run with a triple and eventually scored to make it a 6-5 game in the sixth inning. He also made his first appearance on the mound since April 11th.
The right-hander entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on second and one out and proceeded to retire the only two batters he faced.
“He told me at the end of the seventh inning ‘if you need me, I can go today,’ ” Dingee noted.
Arcadia’s Aidan Candelaria connected on a two-out, two-run double in the first to give the Titans an early 2-1 lead. Robert Rappold walked and scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1 game in the second.
Henry cut the deficit for the Spartans in the fourth with an RBI groundout. Regan Clancy knotted the game at three in the fifth with a two-out infield single that scored James Connelly IV.
Arcadia responded in the home half of the frame again with a two-out rally. Jathniel Martinez brought in a run with a single before Rappold’s double scored Candelaria and Martinez for a 6-3 Arcadia lead.
Parker Drees plated a run with a double and later scored to make it an 8-5 game heading into the seventh.
Parker Drees one hops the fence in left center. Jacob Tsymbal scores on the play. @TitanBaseball 7-5. pic.twitter.com/yQea9wjGob
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 23, 2022
“I feel terrible for those guys,” Dingee said of Arcadia. “Unfortunately, somebody has to lose a game like this.”
Henry started the winning rally with a one-out walk. Lucyszyn followed with a single and moved to second on the throw to set up the game winner.
Morales connected on a first pitch fast ball.
“Those are my pitches to hit, chest-high,” he said. “I just took a daddy hack at it.”
Morales walked and finished with four RBI in the game. Connelly had two doubles, a walk, an RBI and a run scored. Clancy was 2-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored. Alan Henry had two singles in the win.
Charlie Healey struck out four over three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.
Gates (6-15) advances to play top-seeded Churchville-Chili in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. A 5 pm first pitch is scheduled at Churchville.
“I’ve had more talented teams, but they just love each other,” Dingee said of his squad. “You can see it. They have fun together. They’re a really cool group to be with. It’s fun to have talent, but it’s fun to have a group. I will take this group any time, any day.
Drees and Jacob Tsymbal both finished 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead Arcadia (5-16). Tyler Reichert and Robert Walter singled and scored a run apiece.
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