By MIKE ROSE
Webster, NY — Sometimes youth can be an advantage. Players lacking experience may not know any better than to be free and loose in the moment. For Pittsford Sutherland that has been the case all season long as a team with just one senior continues to be unfazed in those moments that grow greater by the game. The Knights found a way again on Saturday as they rallied past the Iroquois Chiefs in eight innings, 2-1, to win the Class A Far West Regional.
Eighth-grader Cara Orlando played the hero this time around launching a walk-off home run. It went in the books officially as single however as Orlando never made it past first base before being mobbed by her teammates.
“I have no words, I was beyond happy,” Sutherland pitcher Petra Hunt said. “I was so proud of Cara. It’s her first year on varsity and for her to come through like that, I knew she could do it and I’m so proud of her.”
Orlando meanwhile didn’t even realize the ball had cleared the fence due to the celebration.
“I saw my friend run at me and we just hugged, I didn’t even watch it go over,” Orlando said.
Just pure youthful ignorance and elation for the Knights who continued their run into uncharted territory. Meanwhile, Pittsford Sutherland head coach Mike Scialo had to battle the thought the run may be waved off due to the baserunning chaos following Orlando’s bomb.
“They get on me at practice every day, why do we go through these situations,” Scialo said. “In their minds, they’re thinking we’re doing it for five minutes and moving on to the next thing. We’re two hours into practice sometimes and we’re still doing that same one thing that we started the practice with and that’s kind of where we have to be with them. Just get them comfortable in every situation that could possibly happen and maybe it shows up in the game. Now that’s one we have to go work on a little bit. We haven’t worked on the walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth where if you pass the runner and come running back and its just chaos, absolute chaos. And you’re worried that the runner didn’t get to first and that runner scored and they call them out but that’s youth, excitement and just going to get your teammates so thank god it worked out.”
Before the fireworks late, it was Iroquois in control early. A first inning passed ball allowed Ailey Moran to score and gave the Chiefs a 1-0 edge. They clung to that margin for much of the day dodging Sutherland’s scoring chances for each of the first four innings. Finally, in the fifth, the Knights finally got their first big hit.
Hannah Glanton led off the inning with a walk and two batters later she was driven home on an RBI double from Hunt to tie the game heading into the late innings. Hunt continued to shine on the mound for Sutherland allowing three base runners from the second inning through the sixth. Iroquois appeared ready to take back control in the seventh before Hunt made the biggest defensive play of the day. With one out and runners on the corners, the Chiefs looked to squeeze in the go-ahead run. Brooklyn Bukaczeski laid a near-perfect bunt down the third base line but Hunt ranged over and tagged out Lydia Loos on her way to the plate. Hunt induced a groundout from Moran to end the inning and keep the game knotted heading to the bottom of the seventh.
“We have probably the best shortstop in our league on the mound,” Scialo said. “When she releases the ball she has the mindset that ‘I’m a defensive player like a shortstop.’ A groundball goes to shortstop most pitchers let it go through, and she’s making diving plays from the mound. Most of the time you’re telling your pitcher don’t do that it’s gonna tip off your glove but with her, we tell her to just do what you do, go after it and field them.”
Hunt would line into a double play that halted any chance for a winner in seven innings forcing the game to extra innings. Hunt would work a 1-2-3 top half of the eighth setting Sutherland up to win it. Mandy Meyers led off with a triple before Ella Devaney reached with one out on a hit-by-pitch. That set the stage for Orlando to win it, launching the home run into center field.
Hunt powered through eight innings of work in the circle allowing one run (no earned runs) on four hits with four strikeouts. Orlando led the offense finishing 2-for-4 with a double and the walk-off home run.
The win sends Sutherland into the state semifinals for the first time in program history in a season where Scialo admitted he initially believed would be more of a building year for his program with all the youth across the lineup.
“It means a lot, it really does,” Scialo said. “Emotional because this is a group of kids at the beginning of the year, we have eighth graders and ninth graders over there, that we really thought this year was really to prepare for next year to be honest. We were just gonna try and get these eighth graders and ninth graders comfortable at the varsity level and somehow they got us to somewhere we’ve never been before.”
It’s safe to say for the Knights, they’ve gotten comfortable. They’ll have to get comfortable again next weekend in Lond Island when they travel to take on Section XI champion Miller Place on Friday, June 7 at Martha Avenue Recreational Park in the Class A semifinals. The first pitch is slated for 9 a.m. with the winner taking on the winner of Ichabod Crane (II) and Marlboro Central (IX) for the Class A crown.
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