By PAUL GOTHAM
HAMBURG, N.Y. — It was a well-kept secret.
The message on the back of the Kendall baseball hats was motivation for the 2026 season.
After Saturday’s result in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Class C quarterfinal, Vinnie D’Agostino was happy to share the meaning with everyone in attendance.
“Binghamton or Bust,” D’Agostino said of the letters (B o B) inscribed on the back of the Kendall team hats.
Mike Colucci snapped a scoreless tie with a bases-loaded single, and Kendall (23-2) walked off with a 1-0 victory over Beaver River (15-8) of Section III to clinch a spot in the state Class C semifinals next Friday.
“We knew from the beginning of the season that we had the skill,” D’Agostino said. “We just just had to make it happen.”
After managing two hits through the first six innings against Beaver River starter, Karter Kloster, Andrew Cole and Sammy Conte led the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back base raps.
“We’ve seen guys like this before,” D’Agostino said of his counterpart. “We just had an off day today and I knew we could hit him eventually.”
A fielder’s choice put runners on the corners before Beaver River elected to intentionally walk Nic Cole and set up the force at every base.
Colucci had struck out looking in his two previous at-bats.
“That was pretty bad on me,” the senior centerfielder said. “They walked Nic, and I knew I had to put the ball in play.”
He drove an outside fastball into right field for the game winner.
“I started screaming,” he said. “As soon as I hit the ball, I’m like, oh, that’s it right there. It was a good feeling.”
The rest of the Eagles mobbed their teammate at first base.
“I just told the team, if you had written it up the way it happened, I would have said, it can’t be how it ends,” said Kendall head coach Tige Noni. “That can’t be how the game ends, because he knows it, Mikey’s kind of been struggling a little bit at the plate. We’ve been trying to figure out what he’s gonna do and his role. He’ll tell you the same thing, so to have him put in that spot where they’re walking Nic to get to a bases-loaded situation, and have him rope a ball like he did, is epic. You can’t put it into words, really. It’s just unbelievable.”
The victory clinched Kendall baseball’s first trip to the state semifinals since 1999.
“That’s pretty crazy,” Colucci said. “It’s wild to think about that. We haven’t done that in so long, and now we’re finally going, and hopefully we’re gonna win it all.”
A year ago, Kendall’s season ended with a loss to Gowanda in the state quarterfinals. That defeat motivated the Eagles since then and prompted the message on the back of the team hats.
“When we lost in the Far West Regional last year, that made them hungry,” Noni said. “And it’s pretty much the same team coming back, losing a couple of seniors. I came up with the idea, but then we came up with what the saying was going to be or whatever. But our goal at the beginning of the season was to get to Binghamton and get further than we did last year, and we just did that.”
D’Agostino, who threw a perfect game in the sectional semifinal win over Perry, scattered two hits and two walks in a complete-game effort. The senior right-hander struck out 10 and retired the last seven he faced. He needed every bit of it to win the duel with Beaver River’s Kloster.
“I know I have a good defense behind me, and I just had to do my job,” D’Agostino said. “I knew we would get him eventually.”
Kendall will face Ticonderoga of Section VII in the state semifinals. That game is scheduled for a 10 AM first pitch at Mirabito Stadium.
“We know it’s gonna be the best competition around, and we just gotta keep working hard,” D’Agostino said. “We know we can hang with anyone at this point.”
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