SARANAC — Austin Lareau tossed a six-inning no-hitter and he and his teammates rapped out 21 hits in all on Friday as defending Section VII Class B Saranac recorded a 20-2 win over AuSable Valley in the semifinals.
The Spartans, ranked 12th in the state in Class B, hosts Saranac Lake on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the opening game of the best-of-three championship series.
Lareau, in six innings, surrendered two runs, walked four and struck out nine. He had control issues in the opening inning while allowing the two runs, but got better and better as the weather worsened.
The game was eventually called after 5.5 innings due to an unplayable field.
“I’m really happy for Austin,” Saranac coach Robby Knowles said. “He’s a great teammate and always puts in extra work to help himself get better.”
The Spartans’ infield also made some good defensive plays, charging balls to take away possible hits.
Zack Lucia led Saranac offensively with four hits, while Adrian Barnes, Brady Blair and Seth Petrashune all added three each. Robbie Squier, Landon Giroux and Brody Macomber chipped in with two apiece. Lareau contributed a triple and Max Coryer was on base all three times up, including a RBI single.
“We did a good job at the plate and put some really good swings on pitches throughout our line-up,” Knowles said.
“AuSable Valley came out with a lot of energy and emotion in the first inning, but Lareau settled in and our bats came alive in the second inning.”
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Saranac 20, AuSable Valley 2 (6)
AVCS 200 000 — 2 0 0
SCS 042 59x — 20 21 1
Richards, Dashnaw (5), Schmidt (5) and Hanshaw. Lareau and Lucia. WP- Lareau. LP- Richards. 2B- Giroux (SCS), Lucia (SCS). 3B- Lareau (SCS).
SARANAC LAKE 7
NORTHEASTERN CLINTON 2
CHAMPLAIN — The third-seeded Red Storm broke a 2-all tie with three runs in the fifth inning and defeated the second-seeded Cougars for the second season in a row in the semifinals.
Saranac Lake plays for the B title, starting on Wednesday at 4:30 at top-seeded Saranac in the best-of-three series.
Ethan Knight was a key factor in the Red Storm win as he went the distance to get the pitching win and allowed four hits.
Saranac Lake rapped out 13 hits in the contest, with Zack Goetz the offensive standout with three hits and four RBI, including the game-winning hit in the fifth inning.
Knight, Sam Clark, Dillon Wilson and Alius Martelle all added two hits each for the Red Storm, with Clark driving in two runs.
Four NCCS players had a hit each and Jacob Perkins took the pitching loss.
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Saranac Lake 7, NCCS 2
SLCS 200 030 2 — 7 13 1
NCCS 101 000 0 — 2 4 2
Knight and Frazier. Perkins, McIntyre (7) and Wells. WP- Knight. LP- Perkins. 2B- Goetz (SLCS), Gillis (SLCS).
CLASS C
SEMIFINALS
MORIAH 3
NORTHERN ADIRONDACK 1
PORT HENRY — Both the Vikings’ Joe Pelkey, who picked up the win, and the Bobcats’ Tripp Hicks pitched well in going the distance.
Pelkey allowed six hits, walked three and struck out four. Hicks, meanwhile, surrendered five hits, did not walk anyone and fanned six.
“Both pitchers were very effective,” Moriah coach Casey Nephew said. “Hicks kept us off balance and their defense played very well.
“Pelkey did a nice job today mixing up his pitches and we made some plays.”
Jacob Mascarenas was the offensive star for Moriah with a three-for-three effort at the plate and all three Vikings’ runs scored.
“Mascarenas had a great game today, both offensively and defensively,” Nephew said. “His base running created our last two runs.
“Joey Kazlo drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Chase McGinness drove in the other two runs with a sacrifice fly and infield single.”
Reece Labarge’s double was one of the six hits for NAC.
Second-seeded Moriah takes on top-seeded Ticonderoga on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Ticonderoga in the first game of the best-of-three series.
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Moriah 3, NAC 1
NAC 001 000 0 — 1 6 1
MCS 100 101 x — 3 5 2
Hicks and Rabideau. Pelkey and Orr. WP- Pelkey. LP- Hicks. 2B- Labarge (NAC). 3B- Mascarenas (MCS).
CVAC
TICONDEROGA 14
BEEKMANTOWN 5
TICONDEROGA — The contest was the completion of a suspended game from last Friday and the Sentinels won another CVAC Division II title with the victory.
Winning pitcher Jackson Dorsett struck out seven and walked one in going 4.1 inning without allowing an earned run.
“Jackson got a strikeout with guys on second and third to start the first inning up again and got us out of a jam,” Ticonderoga coach Dan Dorsett said.
“We then scored six runs in the bottom of the first and continued to put the ball in play all game and took advantage of scoring opportunities.”
Trevor Blanchard paced the Sentinels offensively with three hits and three RBI. Rowen Bechtold chipped in with two hits. Ticonderoga outhit Beekmantown, 10-2.
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Ticonderoga 14, Beekmantown 5
BCS 100 103 0 — 5 2 4
TCS 600 341 x — 14 10 2
Rankin, Duncan (1), Recore (4) and Porter. Crossman, Dorsett (1), Crossman (6) and Crossman, Dorsett (1). WP- Dorsett. LP- Rankin.