BINGHAMTON — Heads down and tears in their eyes. That was the state of Plattsburgh baseball players.
It was fitting for players, coaches and fans after the Section VII Hornets, 5-1 defeat against Section VI’s Depew in the NYSPHSAA Baseball Championships State Semifinals.
Through tears in his eyes, Plattsburgh’s Patrick Shaughnessy searched for the silver linings in the outcome.
“How successful the season we had, even though it doesn’t feel right now,” he said. “All of our kids should be happy. I didn’t think it was gonna end this way. But that’s it, it’s the best thing about baseball. That’s the base of the game of baseball right there.”
The Hornets laid it all on the line, Friday. They didn’t let a rain delay, and movement of the game to another location, affect them. There were PHS players on the basepaths in every inning except the seventh.
What doomed the Hornets was leaving runners in scoring position. In both the first and fifth innings, the bases were loaded. Plattsburgh was unable to make anything of those times.
Credit should be given to Wildcat pitchers, Eric Woodley and Joshua Toolen. They kept the Hornets off balance all game, combining to strike out 13 batters.
“Those two pitchers that we just faced are the two best pitchers we faced all year,” Shaughnessy said. “I mean, I don’t want to take anything away from anybody who we played all season but we came up against two strong pitchers today.”
Scoring got started early when Depew’s Tyler Kamyski sent the ball into left center for a ground-rule double, plating two teammates, in the second inning
But, Plattsburgh wouldn’t go quietly. In the bottom of the third, Jace Lacey sent a scorcher past the center fielder for a triple, bringing the Hornets within striking distance.
Things started to look shaky for Plattsburgh in the fifth inning. After a leadoff single, the next two batters drew walks to load the bases.
As the rain started to come down, Warren Miller continued to fight to get the third out of the inning. Unfortunately, he walked the next batter, plating a run.
The game was suspended and picked up hours later at a different ballpark and a different pitcher.
Trenton Griffiths took over on the mound and let one get by him as he walked the first batter to put the score at 4-1.
The Hornets wouldn’t let another one get by them as Braeden Calkins snagged a hit towards third base, ending the threat.
Plattsburgh looked prime to close the gap in the bottom of the inning as Toolen labored. The problem was if he wasn’t walking a batter, he was striking them out. The Hornets couldn’t get the bat on ball.
It would be the last threat Plattsburgh could muster.
In the sixth, an error allowed the Wildcats scored their final run to seal the 5 to 1 victory.
Coming into the seventh, the Hornets had hope as the top of their lineup was due. Unfortunately, they were only able to get two groundouts before a strikeout ended the game.
And the season, on what Shaughnessy said was one of the best teams Plattsburgh has had, at least since the team was last in the Final Four in 2005.
“This is the best team I’ve been a part of overall ability wise, maturity wise, character wise,” he said. “I can definitely say the best team I’ve been a part of.
“I’ve coached these guys, and they’ve really gelled. They were all in one. Like I said, number one through 17 on our team were all in the whole year. Couldn’t ask for a better group of guys and a better group of coaches that we have.”
If there’s a silver lining for the Hornets it’s that Depew went on to defeat Section IV Lansing in the Championship game, 5-4.
Looking ahead, Plattsburgh will make the move to Class A next year. It’ll be a different road to the Final Four for them, if they make it back.
“I told the guys I think, not that you can say you want to make it back to the Final Four every single year,” Shaughnessy said. “That’s obviously the goal.
“But I think the section should be the standard of our team. I think we have a good core coming back. We’re a very good team, a very good young team. But we want to win the section and ultimately make it back to the Final Four. Yeah, next year.”
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Depew 5, Plattsburgh 1
DHS 020 021 0 – 5 3 0
PHS 001 000 0 – 1 3 2
Miller and T. Griffiths. Woodley and Toolen. WP- Woodley. LP- Miller. S- Toolen. 3B- Lacey (PHS), 2B- M. Griffiths (PHS) Kamyski (DHS)