REDSKIN REDEMPTION-ORISKANY 6 NEW YORK MILLS 1
STEVE ROSSI GOES THE DISTANCE-BROOKFIELD NEXT IN D FINAL
Fred Miller-MHTS
Game Notes: Dave Peroni
Like a big old bass waiting at the bottom of a pond, for just the right minnow to swim by, the Oriskany Redskins baseball team laid in wait for their rivals from New York Mills.
After two straight regular season losses, in the final week of the regular season, to make matters worse, the first by the score of 4-3 on May 14th and the second a just as hard to swallow, 2-1 loss on May 16th, coach Tom Meiss and company made sure the Marauders took the bait.
The bait was cast by Oriskany starter Steve Rossi, who picked the right night to dominate, as he got New York Mill’s potent offense to chase the, way too high, hard ones and then take his big bender for a strike.
Marauder’s head coach Gerry Fiorini could be heard exhorting his troops to lay off the high ones in between just about every inning.
Problem is, the message never seemed to get through to the, normally patient, New York Mills lineup.
Steve Rossi goes the distance at DeLutis to lead Oriskany to the Class D Final.
The result of the bravura mound performance was a great pitching line that went like this, 7 innings, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts, 4 hits and just 3 bases on balls.
It all added up to a 6-1 win and a trip to the Class D Final, against another form of wildlife, the Brookfield Beavers.
The game will be played at Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse on Tuesday at 4:30PM.
It will take some great bait to hook the boys from Brookfield, 4-3 winners over McGraw in today’s other semifinal.
Coach Jamie Reilly and company are defending Section III Champs and 35-2 over the last two seasons. We all remember the great run to states Brookfield made last season…right?
Oriskany, glad to be back to the finals, will be looking for the school’s first Section III title since the 2006-2007 season.
So as they say, the third time was the charm, despite the Redskins, ending the regular season three games behind New York Mills in the standings. Speaking of threes, how about this little tidbit?
Oriskany fans should be proud of the fact that the school has plenty to be proud of when it comes to the academic achievements of three Redskins starters.
New York Mills starter Shaun Kula throws to first for an early out.
Let’s start on the mound; Steve Rossi will be class Valedictorian at the school’s upcoming commencement ceremony, his batterymate, Pat Manna will be the Salutatorian and left fielder Nate Keating just so happens to have ended up third in his class. The third time definitely is the charm!
As good as Rossi was on the mound, Nate Keating and Noah Lupini were just as good at the plate.
Keating, the Oriskany left fielder, had a big night at the DeLutis dish, going 2-3 and driving in 3 runs, while scoring 1 of his own.
The Redskins second basemen was 3-3, with a run batted in, and 2 runs scored. Lupini was on top of his game as well, delivering 3 hits in 3 trips while driving in a run and scoring one to boot. Alex Liddy also drove in a run for Oriskany.
Oriskany seemed determined to give the big, holiday weekend, crowd plenty to cheer about as the Skins jumped on Mills starter Shaun Kula for three quick runs in the visitors first, to take a commanding 3-3 lead and put the Marauders in a defensive posture from the get-go.
Kula had a short stay, on the hill, as he lasted just two and a third innings and was relieved by Addison Wolanin, who held the Redskins to just two more runs the rest of the way.
Austin Smith gets ready to celebrate with teammates after early run.
Center fielder Sam Martel led off by working out a walk and then before you could blink, stole second and then scored the game’s first run when Noah Lupini ripped a base hit to right to chase Martel to the plate to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Oh, those bases on balls. Austin Smith worked out a walk of his own and joined teammate Noah Lupini on a speedy trip around the bases, as Nate Keating delivered the biggest hit of the game, a two RBI single to left field. Wham, bam, it was 3-0 Redskins.
It looked like the Marauders would answer right back, as JT Ross doubled down the left field line to put himself in scoring position.
It looked even better, for New York Mills, when Addison Wolanin walked to put two on with no one out.
Rossi dug deep and got, the big man, John Sadallah to fly out to right field. Rossi then struck out Zach Vennaro for out number two.
Ryan Lupia did all he could to aid the Marauder cause as he hit one as hard as he could, on the line, to second baseman Noah Lupini who snared the hot shot to end the inning and leave two runners stranded.
Starter Shaun Kula has his best half-inning in the second, as he put the Skins down 1-2-3.
# 15 John Sadallah warms up before doubling to center.
Alex Liddy struck out, Anthony Pickard grounded out to first and Pat Manna rolled one to third for the final out of a strong inning for Kula.
Sam Martel earned his keep, again, as he walked and later came around to score Oriskany’s fourth run in the top of the third inning. Martel quickly found himself on second base after a wild pitch.
Another off the mark offering led to Martel heading home after Mills catcher Terry Nichols tried to pick Martel off third. Martel trotted home with run number 4 for Oriskany.
Zach Vennaro banged out his second hit of the game in the bottom half of inning three, to left field, and it looked like the Marauders might be getting set to rally.
That feeling was a fleeting one as Rossi then got Ryan Lupia to pop out to second and then struck out his mound opponent, Shaun Kula, for out number two. The inning ended when Jordan Wilcox flied out to left.
Little doubt about the outcome was presented in the form of two big insurance runs for Oriskany, scored in the top half of the fifth inning.
The two N’s, Noah and Nate, ignited the rally. Noah Lupini singled to left and Nate Keating then doubled to center field, as Lupini sped around the horn to make it 5-0 Oriskany.
# 2 Noah Lupini shows great form at the dish. Lupini had a big night at the plate.
Alex Liddy then earned an RBI with a clean single to center to score Keating and push the lead to 6-0.
New York Mills did not go quietly, into the off season, as they scratched out a run of their own in the bottom of inning number six.
John Sadallah hit one to the deepest part of the yard, doubling to center. A wild pitch by Rossi allowed Sadallah to trot down to second and into scoring position.
Zach Vennaro, did what he does best, ripping an RBI single to left, allowing Sadallah to break the ice and get on the DeLutis board, as New York Mills trailed 6-1.
That’s the way this one would end. Speaking of ending ,the CSC IV champs end their season with a record of (15-5). A great season that ended too early for Marauder fans.
Oriskany now (16-5) lives to play another day, as they try to get the Beavers from Brookfield to take the bait.
Oriskany 6 New York Mills 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Oriskany 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 6 7 0
New York Mills 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 1
Oriskany catcher Pat Manna tries to track one down.
