PORT HENRY — This one got nerve-racking at the end.
Moriah built up an early lead last Friday and then held on for a 6-5 victory over Ticonderoga to force a third and deciding game in the Section VII Class C baseball championship series.
The second-seeded Vikings held a 6-0 lead after five innings over the defending Class C champions and top-seeded Sentinels. Ticonderoga, however, made it real close with a run in the sixth and four in the seventh.
“A win’s a win,” a relieved Moriah coach Casey Nephew said after the game. “It got interesting at the end.
“It’s been close between the two teams all season, with the run totals just about the same for both.”
Chase McGinness gave Moriah a 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the first inning and the Vikings added another in the second on a bases-loaded walk.
It became 5-0 in the third when Isaac White’s two-run triple and Billy Orr’s RBI ground out accounted for three runs. Orr then singled in a run in the fifth to give Moriah a 6-0 advantage.
The Sentinels got on the board in the sixth on Jackson Dorsett’s RBI double before making a serious bid in the seventh.
Moriah starting and winning pitcher Joe Pelkey walked one over the first six innings, but ran into trouble in the seventh when he surrendered a one-out single and walked three batters.
Jake Mascarenas then took over and Dom Crossman’s long two-out, three-run double brought the Sentinels to within 6-5. But Mascarenas struck out the next batter to end the game, stranding Crossman at second.
“I think Pelkey got a little tired in the seventh,” Nephew said. “Mascarenas is a four-year starter for me and I trust him. He was able to get a strikeout to end the game.”
Pelkey went 6.2 innings and he allowed five hits, walked four and struck out two.
His teammates played solid defense behind him, committing just one error.
“Pelkey throws strikes and we have played pretty good defense most of the year,” Nephew said.
Rowen Bechtold took over for losing pitcher Crossman in the second with the bases loaded and a run already in and escaped further damage. He ended up going the rest of the way.
“Bechtold came in and did a good job for them,” Nephew said.
Offensively, White went two-for-two with a single and triple, drove in two runs and scored two for the Vikings.
Five different players had a hit each for the Sentinels, with Crossman’s three-run double the big blow.
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Moriah 6, Ticonderoga 5
TCS;000;001;4;—;5;6;2
MCS;113;010;x;—;6;6;1
Crossman, Bechtold (2) and Dorsett, Crossman (2). Pelkey, Mascarenas (7) and Orr. WP- Pelkey. LP- Crossman. Sv- Mascarenas. 2B- Crossman (TCS), Dorsett (TCS), Kazlo (MCS). 3B- White (MCS).