by TYLER HATHAWAY
NEWARK, N.Y– In Gananda’s first game of the season, the Blue Panthers and pitcher Will Schneemann were one strike away from picking up a 1-0 win over Section IV Unatego.
The southpaw tossed what he thought would be the final pitch of the game, but it ended up as an infield single. Then there was another single. And another. And suddenly, Gananda’s opening day win turned into a heartbreaking 2-1 loss.
The moment stuck with the junior pitcher all season. And in Friday night’s Section V Class C1 championship game between the top-seeded Blue Panthers and No. 2 seed Notre Dame Batavia at Colburn Park, Schneemann found himself in the exact same spot.
His team led 1-0, and was one strike away from sealing the deal in the seventh inning before a base hit barely squeaked through the middle infield to prolong the game.
“First game of the year the same thing happened,” said Schneemann. “They strung together four hits to win the game. I just told myself today to settle down, you’re good. I didn’t let it get to my head, I didn’t think about it. I just said to go get this hitter.”
And that he did. Schneemann responded with a strikeout, his 11th of the game, to cap off a complete two-hit game on the bump and stamp Gananda’s (19-2) third sectional championship in program history.
“This is something we’ve been dreaming about since we were in seventh grade,” said Schneemann, the tournament MVP. “Coach told me I was getting the start about two days ago, and from then on I’ve just been locked in. You could offer me anything, this is the thing I wanted the most.”
“They’ve put in hard work all year long,” said Gananda head coach Bill McClare of his team. ”So it’s nice to see these guys rewarded for it. We have four seniors that have been here since they were in ninth grade. They’ve made it to two semifinals, lost both. We got over the hump of the semifinals this year and took it home.”
It was the second straight 1-0 win for Gananda after taking down fourth-seeded Pembroke in the semifinals by the same score.
“We started off with that loss to Unatego, that was a one run game,” McClare explained. “I just had a feeling at some point in time, this team was gonna grow enough to be able to win those one run games. And we did that in these last two.”
All told, the Blue Panthers didn’t let anybody score against them in sectional play. Friday was their sixth straight shutout win.
“Pitching and defense,” McClare explained. “They’ve always said that pitching and defense wins games and we came out and proved it. We didn’t kick the ball around, we didn’t give them anything. We made them earn it.”
“Our guys know the way of the game, and I think our practices have really helped lock it in,” said Schneemann. “You can really tell the intensity was up during our practices. You could tell how bad everyone wanted this. The goal today was to try and keep them off balance, get a bunch of easy ground balls, that’s what happened.”
Gananda got what was ultimately the winning run in the opening frame. Brady Wadsworth got on base before Maddox Stoughton singled to move him over to second. Anthony D’Agostino and Owen Switzer then each drew walks to plate Wadsworth and give the Blue Panthers an early 1-0 advantage.
“I thought we were gonna need more than one, but Will (Schneemann) proved me wrong,” said McClare. “Getting that run early just let the offense relax a little bit. Maybe we ended up being too relaxed.”
Schneemann took the reigns of the game from there, only allowing four batters to reach base. Entering Friday’s game, Notre Dame Batavia was averaging 9.9 runs per game and were the winners of its past 11 contests.
“Just a gutsy performance from Will,” McClare said of his pitcher. “I mean to go out there with a one run lead for six innings and hold down a good team like Notre Dame Batavia like that, that was outstanding.”
“Confidence,” Schneemann said was the most important thing for him while on the bump. “After getting big strikeouts, getting really hyped up helps my with confidence, and all four pitches were working.”
It’s the first Section V title for Gananda since 2019, a year that ended in a state semifinal appearance.
“I think we do things the right way,” said McClare. “We get the right kids, they buy in from an early age, and you can just see it from the modified program all the way through. Winning breeds success going forward. Kids understand what they’re gonna be asked to do here.”
Henry Shutts and Switzer each had singles for the Blue Panthers. For Notre Dame Batavia (20-2), Eli Grice singled and walked. Finn Davies had a base hit. Chase Antinore walked.
Junior pitcher Evan Fitzpatrick pitched six innings and struck out eight for the Fighting Irish.
“He threw really well,” said McClare. “He’s a really good pitcher.”
Gananda advances to face Kendall, the Class C2 champ, in the NYS Class C Far West Regional Qualifier. The date, time and location of the match-up are yet to be determined.
“I think the fact that we won two games in a row with one run is not good,” said Schneemann of what it will take for the Blue Panthers to make a run. “We really need to focus on the bats. It’s nice to be able to say that we have a good defense, but we definitely need to pick it up on offense and I think everyone knows that.”
“We really stressed doing the little things all year,” said McClare. “From how we get on the field, to how we take IO in practice and warm ups, just every little thing. They all bought in.”
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