ENDICOTT — Last year, Niagara Falls headed into the postseason missing a standout and made it all the way to the state semifinals, where its luck ran out.
This year, the team wanted a different ending. Niagara Falls wanted to be the last team standing in Class AAA. Sure, every team wants that but this Falls squad had the resumé to prove it could actually do that.
It was 18-5 overall and had won its second consecutive Section VI title. The team headed in with a lot of momentum thanks to a five-game winning streak. Unfortunately for them, the wait for their first-ever state title game appearance will have to wait until next year.
That part is guaranteed after a 9-3 loss to Liverpool on Friday at Union-Endicott High School’s Pete Sylvester Park.
Despite the end result being the same over the last two years, the feeling afterwards is different. This year, the team knew what to expect and it was ready for the challenge.
“We really came here with a challenge,” Niagara Falls senior Matthew Brydges said. “No one expects a public school like Niagara Falls to be here, especially two years in a row. So we really put on for our community. I mean, you can tell. There’s hundreds of people here for us. So it means a lot to our community. It means the world to us even being here. We wish we would have came out with the win but it happens.”
When the game ended, the Niagara Falls dugout was dead silent and there were players doubled over in emotional pain. Before head coach Rob Augustino and his captains Matthew Brydges and Anthony Littere received the state semifinalist plaque, the two captains embraced each other.
While the two did not say anything, nothing needed to be said. How do you express in words what it feels like to no longer be playing with the kid you have been playing with since you were five years old.
“We didn’t really need to say much,” Brydges said. “Our history says enough. We’ve been best friends since we were five years old. So playing with him all these years, I’ve been so grateful and I wish him nothing but the best. That’s a great player. That’s the best player in Western New York, there’s no one better than him and the bond that me and him have, you don’t have to say any words for that.”
The two seniors finished their final games going a combined 2-for-7 with one run and one RBI.
For the second consecutive game, Niagara Falls put themselves behind the eight-ball early. In this contest, Niagara Falls gave up four runs in the top of the first on two hits and one walk and two errors.
“We didn’t make plays,” Augustino said. “I thought Matt Warner pitched great. He pitched great the whole game, he hit his spots. They put the ball in play, we didn’t always make the plays and the first inning it kind of compounded. There’s only four runs, three were unearned. So we kind of got ourselves behind right from the get-go the whole rest of the game, try to get back in it.”
However, just like the last game, the Wolverines fought back with three runs in the third inning to bring its deficit to within one run at 4-3.
But, the Warriors scored two runs in the top of the fifth to effectively end the game with a 6-3 lead.
It was a response from Liverpool that took the wind out of Niagara Falls sails and ended its season.
“We were right there, mentally right there, momentum, everything and it kind of deflated,” Augustino said. “It was very deflating.”