By PAUL GOTHAM
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The Fillmore nine erased a pair of two-run deficits.
A third rally was needed, but didn’t happen as the Eagles fell to Duanesburg of Section 2, 9-4 in the New York State Public High School (NYSPHSAA) Class D championship game Saturday at SUNY Binghamton.
“Being down twice and tying it up twice, there were a lot of things that didn’t work in our favor today, but the kids didn’t give up,” said Fillmore head coach Kaiden Bowers. “That’s just a credit to them and everything they’ve done to get here.”
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Jared Boon connected on a one-out single. After moving to second on a balk, Boon scored on Isaac Wilcox’s RBI single.
James Hillman put runners on the corners with a hit-and-run single, and Connor McCumiskey knotted the game with a sacrifice fly.
Duanesburg, though, responded with five runs in the home half of the frame.
“It’s sad right now, but I’m so incredibly proud of everyone that has poured everything into this program to get us here,” Bowers said.
Duanesburg opened the game’s scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Fillmore (20-3) didn’t flinch answering with two runs in the second.
James Hillman and McCumiskey drew back-to-back walks to lead the inning. Blake Washburn put both runners in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
Braylon Hatch beat out an infield single to bring home Hillman. An errant throw on the play allowed McCumiskey to cross the plate.
Malcolm Nusbickel started and struck out three over five innings of work.
“That’s exactly what we wanted him to do today,” Bowers said of the junior right-hander. “I knew that he could give us probably five good innings and keep us in a baseball game. This is the biggest game he’s ever pitched in. He handled himself incredibly well, kept his composure, fought like crazy.”
Nusbickel was pulled after giving up a single to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Avery Potter took over on the mound. The first batter Potter reached on a tapper in front of the plate that appeared to make contact with the hitter as he left the batter’s box.
Instead of the play being called dead, Duanesburg had runners on first and second. Potter fanned the next to come to the plate. The following hitter sent a line drive up the middle that struck the sophomore righthander’s throwing arm. He was able to stand on his own, but had to leave the game.
Duanesburg took advantage and scored five runs.
“They (Duansbeurg) are a solid team, one through nine,” Bowers said. “There’s no easy outs, and we were right there. We were right there till the end.
“We graduate two seniors, one starter. I’m not, looking ahead to next year. I need some time to process, but you have to think that we’re gonna be a good ball program and a tough team to beat for a few years because of all the work these kids put into it.”
Duanesburg’s Collin Lussier finished 2-for-3 in the game. Lussier’s two-run triple made it an 8-4 game in the sixth.
Earlier, Potter was ruled out because it was determined that he had pine tar too far up the barrel of his bat. The infraction, a result of an inadvertent application of the adhesive-type substance, resulted in Bowers (who as head coach is responsible for monitoring equipment) being restricted to the dugout for the remainder of the contest.
Baseball fans will recall the “Pine Tar Incident” involving eventual hall-of-famer George Brett. In a 1983 game against the New York Yankees, Brett was ruled out after he hit a home run when it was determined that the substance exceeded the designated 18-inch mark as measured from the knob of the bat.
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