TICONDEROGA — Senior Dom Crossman took center stage on Sunday when Ticonderoga wrapped up yet another Section VII Class C baseball title with a 10-1 victory over rival Moriah.
The top-seeded Sentinels won the best-of-three championship series, 2-1, over the second-seeded and rival Vikings.
Crossman went the distance for the pitching win and had the big blow offensively with a grand-slam home run in the second inning.
“Dom is a four-year starter and we trust him,” Ticonderoga coach Dan Dorsett said. “He’s a baseball player.
“We’re a young team this year and I didn’t know what to expect. We had only two starting position players (Crossman and Jackson Dorsett) returning, and only one starting pitcher (Dorsett).
“This has been one of my most rewarding seasons.”
Crossman, who couldn’t get out of the second inning in the game before due to control issues, was a different pitcher on Sunday. He allowed two hits, walked five and struck out two.
“I went home after the second game and just tried to relax,” he said. “I thought about what I did badly and how I could be better.
“I still felt confident going into this game and I wanted to come out today and just be happy.”
“Dom struggled in our last game, but I think the three-run double he hit in the seventh inning helped his confidence going into this game,” Dorsett said.
Although a senior, this is Crossman’s first year on the team as a starting pitcher. He is the Sentinels’ regular catcher when not doing the pitching.
“Coach Dorsett said he needed me to pitch this season and I was ready for the challenge,” Crossman said. “I’ll do anything to help the team.”
“Dom had never started a game pitching until this season,” Dorsett said. “We needed him to pitch and Jackson (Dorsett) to catch when Dom was pitching to cut down on other teams attempting to run.”
While Crossman had a big game, so did a number of other Ticonderoga players as the Sentinels rapped out 12 hits in all.
Maysen LaPointe accounted for three hits, while Crossman, Parker Davis, Rowen Bechtold and Trevor Blanchard added two each, with Bechtold and LaPointe each driving in two runs.
Dorsett, who was chosen as the series’ Most Valuable Player, added a double and was walked intentionally. He was also outstanding defensively behind the plate.
Joe Pelkey and Jake Mascarenas had the lone hits for the Vikings and Isaac White took the pitching loss. Moriah’s lone run was unearned.
Crossman got out of the first inning when Ticonderoga center fielder Blanchard made a diving catch and turned it into an inning-ending double play with a runner caught too far off second.
Ticonderoga broke through in the second with five runs. The Sentinels scored a run, but White struck out two batters with the bases loaded and was one out away from further damage.
But Crossman was next and he belted a long drive over the fence in left center for a grand slam and 5-0 lead.
“I always had a goal of hitting a home run in a high school game,” Crossman said. “I just wanted to hit a nice line drive this time. I didn’t know it went out until I got around first base.
“Scoring five runs in the second inning took some of the weight off my shoulders and I just needed to be myself. I knew my teammates would help me.”
Moriah got a run back in the fourth and had the bases loaded with one out looking for more. However a line drive to second base was turned into a double play to get the Sentinels out of the inning.
Ticonderoga then sealed it in the sixth with five more runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Bechtold and a two-run double from LaPointe.
“I felt we finished the loss the other day well,” Dorsett said. “But this was still a game until we broke it open in the sixth.”
The Sentinels now get a bye in the opening round of the NYSPHSAA Class C tournament and will play the winner of the game between Section II’s Saratoga Catholic and Section X’s Tupper Lake.
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Ticonderoga 10, Moriah 1
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TCS;050;005;x;—;10;12;3
White and Orr. Crossman and Dorsett. WP- Crossman. LP- White. 2B- Davis (TCS), Dorsett (TCS), Blanchard (TCS), LaPointe (TCS). HR- Crossman (TCS).