Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Oh my, Goodness! Pal-Mac clinches program-first regional appearance

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By PAUL GOTHAM

LIVONIA, N.Y. — Eight days ago, Ian Goodness started and lasted three innings in Palmyra-Macedon’s quarterfinal win. It was the junior right-hander’s shortest outing of the season.

On Thursday evening with a spot in the New York State Class B Far West Regional hanging in the balance, Goodness went the distance.

And Pal-Mac Baseball clinched a spot in the regionals for the first time in program history.

Goodness struck out nine without issuing a walk and hurled a complete-game three-hitter as Pal-Mac (23-0) defeated Haverling, 7-0.

“A trip to the regionals is pretty good,” the 6-foot-3 right-hander said. “It took a lot of hard work throughout the season.”

After surrendering a leadoff single in the first to Class B2 Player of the Year AJ Brotz, Goodness retired the next seven batters he faced before allowing a two-out single in the third.

From there he set down eight straight and did not allow another runner until Brotz connected on a two-out double in the sixth.

By that time, Pal-Mac had a commanding 7-0 lead.

“I had that in the back of my mind,” he said of the previous start when he allowed three runs on three hits and four walks. “Probably the worst outing I’ve had in my entire high school career, so I was just really focused and really determined. I was just really determined to get us to the furthest point in school history.”

Haverling, the Section V Class B2 champion, came into the contest averaging nearly 10 runs per game. Goodness shackled the Rams lineup and did not allow more than one runner on base in any given inning.

“We had a scouting report,” Goodness noted. “We knew the bottom of their order hit well, so we were throwing off-speed throughout the entire lineup.”

Haverling (19-3) had won six consecutive – a stretch which consisted of four double-digits efforts on offense. The Rams managed to get just one runner past second in the game.

“Ian was just on today,” said longtime catcher and classmate, Noah Brooks. “His slider was working really well. It goes away. We knew that if we kept it low and away they were going to get a lot of weak contact. That’s what we saw from most of the hitters.

“His fastball is up there in velo too. If we just mix them up, we’re going to keep them guessing. It doesn’t matter what adjustments they make. We’re eliminating that.”

First time through the order, Pal-Mac’s offense struggled against Brotz. The right-hander, like his counterpart, gave up a leadoff hit and retired the next nine, three on strikes.

The Red Raiders scratched across a pair of runs in the fourth before sending nine to the plate in a five-run fifth.

“It was just a a matter of being patient, not being so anxious,” said senior Alex Wootton who singled and scored in the fourth and drove in a run with a two-out single in the fifth.  “We knew he didn’t really have his curveball today, so we started to eliminate that and hunt fastballs. Once we started doing that, we started barreling up balls.”

Paul Goodness reached on hit by pitch to start the fourth. Wootton put runners on the corners with a base hit to right center. Chris Finocchario, Jr. broke the scoreless tie with an RBI groundout. Christian Morrison followed with an RBI groundout of his own, and Pal-Mac had all the runs it needed.

“It was just getting that first run across,” Wootton said. “My first at-bat was pretty bad. I just popped up right away. I was really looking to put something in play and keep the line moving.”

Isiah Stephens singled and reached third on an error with one out in the fifth. Brooks walked and stole second. Paul Goodness followed with an RBI sacrifice fly.

Wootton and Finocchario singled. Ian Goodness doubled off the fence in right center to blow the game open. Morrison capped the inning with an RBI bloop single into shallow right field.

“The energy in the dugout was just crazy,” Brooks said. “We felt ourselves kinda plateau at the beginning. Once we got our energy, it was as loud as you could imagine. Then we started rolling.”

The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but storms rolled through Livingston County late in the afternoon forcing the postponement. Both teams were sitting in buses in the parking lot and had to turn around and return to their respective schools – nearly hour treks for both teams.

“In the bus, we decided we’re not going home,” Brooks said. “We were going to try and beat them at practice. We went home and had a quick practice. Our goal is always to practice harder than the other team the day before. We wanted to continue with that.”

They returned Thursday less than 48 hours after claiming sectional titles – the second straight for Pal-Mac and the first for Haverling in more than a decade.

“We realized that both teams were kinda flat at the beginning,” Brooks added. “We wanted to be the ones to score first. We like to pile on runs in the first. When that didn’t go our way, we didn’t get down on ourselves. We just kept going.”

A year ago, Pal-Mac didn’t get a chance to play in the regionals. Precautions surrounding Covid-19 forced the cancellation of the state tournament. Pal-Mac’s only other sectional title came in 2013. That team lost to Wayland-Cohocton in the qualifier. That game also took place at Livonia.

“It’s awesome,” Wootton said. “It’s a great group of guys. We’re just looking to keep moving on.”

Pal-Mac will face Section VI champ Medina on Saturday. A 2 p.m. first pitch is scheduled at Monroe Community College. That will be the second of three games played that day at MCC with the Class AA regional between Orchard Park and McQuaid Jesuit starting the day at 11 a.m. Online tickets only are available and can be purchased here.

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