by TYLER HATHAWAY
PENFIELD, N.Y— Cottreall-Warner Post 942 (19-6) plated four runners in the second inning and never looked back on its way to a 15-3 win over Hillcrest Post 1194 (17-8) during the NYS American Legion Championship tournament at Penfield High School on Tuesday afternoon.
The Canal Dogs plated at least four runners in three different innings and finished with 11 hits. The win keeps them alive in the tournament after a 5-3 loss to Kingston-Saugerties on Monday, two wins away from a state title.
“Yesterday there was just not a lot of energy, not a lot of emotion out of the group,” said Cottreall-Warner manager Gary McNeil. “So we challenged them to come today with a little more focus and a little more energy, and they responded pretty well. The bats got going early.”
After Nolan Weed delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to give Hillcrest Post a 1-0 lead, Brady Sayers started the scoring for the Canal Dog with a sacrifice fly to plate Conor Forkey. Henry Shutts then got on via an error to score Garrett McNeil, Nick Rene drew a walk to score Max Caron, and Tyler Estelle hit a sacrifice fly to score Parker Carley and make it 4-1.
“It was important to punch back,” the coach explained. “It was a little sloppy there in the first inning, and that was maybe a little bit of a hangover from yesterday., So some of the leaders on the team and the dugout in between innings just kind of rallied the troops and made sure that they tightened it up, and we were focused going forward, and they responded well.”
Cottreall-Warner plated four more runners in the fourth inning. Rene had an RBI single, Roselli scored two on an error, and Forkey delivered an RBI triple to extend the Canal Dogs lead to 8-2.
“ We had a good approach today,” said McNeil. “We knew Hillcrest had a really good arm on the mound a big lefty who threw the ball pretty well. We had a good approach on him. We were patient overall, but aggressive in the zone when he got behind on the count. So I think when we have good approaches and we’re thinking through our at-bats, it’s a pretty dangerous lineup from top to bottom.”
Merlo and Shutts each had RBI singles in the fifth before the scoring picked up again in the sixth. A two-run bomb by Forkey highlighted a five-run frame to seal the win for the Canal Dogs.
Forkey finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. McNeil singled three times and scored twice. Tyler Estelle had a double, and scored. Shutts ended 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run, and a walk. Pete Hoffman had a two-RBI base hit. Rene singled, plated a pair, walked, and crossed home plate. Brady Sayers walked twice, scored twice, and hit a sac fly. Jake DiCicco tossed six innings and retired three batters on strikes. Max Caron walked three times and scored three times. Merlo singled, had a pair of RBI, and walked. Carley scored twice, while Roselli scored once.
“You really just gotta win every pitch, and look at it that way, rather than kind of looking at it game by game,” said McNeil. “So we’ll focus on winning every pitch, and if we do that, we will put ourselves in a position to have success.”
For Hillcrest Post, Andrew Bunker singled three times and scored. Aedan Palmer had a solo-shot home run. Weed and Seamus MacNamee each had an RBI single. Jack Pipher singled and scored. DJ Steen had a base hit and walked. Colin Trotter singled, and Jack Cavalier walked.
Porter Dadonna started and tossed an inning and two thirds. Ryan Mathews, Tommy Whitman, Paul Cronin, and Steen each threw in relief.
Cottreall-Warner advances to the final day of the tournament and will take on Kingston-Saugerties Post at 10:00 AM on Wednesday. The Canal Dogs will need to win twice to be state champions. Dylan Dumont will start on the rubber for Game 1.
“You know, you’re only as good as your next day’s starting pitcher.” said McNeil. “We have our ace going into game one tomorrow. So I think the boys will rally around him, and hopefully take some of the confidence we gained today and carry it over into tomorrow.”
Thank you for such great civerage of Legion Baseball!! These kids work hard and play hard and we are fortunate to have Pickin Splinters provide civerage.