SARATOGA SPRINGS — A young Ticonderoga varsity baseball team had a difficult task on Sunday taking on the No. 2-ranked Class C team in New York State.
The Section VII-champion Sentinels (12-7) stayed with the Saints (25-1) for the first four innings, trailing 4-1.
However the Section II winners erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth and won the C regional final, 11-1, by the 10-run rule.
“We wanted to keep the game as close as possible and we kept it close for four innings,” Ticonderoga coach Dan Dorsett said.
“But we made too many physical mistakes in the field and when you’re playing a team as talented as they are, you don’t have much room for error.”
The Sentinels were held without a hit by Saratoga Catholic starter Pierce Byrne over the first three innings while the Saints were able to take a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, however, Ticonderoga loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by Jackson Dorsett and Rowen Bechtold, along with a walk to Trevor Blanchard.
That was it for Byrne, who was replaced on the mound by Brian Selig.
The Sentinels then went to small ball and it worked when Maysen LaPointe bunted for a single with a run scoring. But it didn’t work on the following hitter when a bunt attempt was botched and the runner at third tagged out. The Saints were then able to get out of the inning without further damage.
“We were able to chase the starting pitcher and I thought that was an accomplishment,” Dorsett said. “But we just weren’t able to capitalize on the chances we had.”
Jackson Dorsett allowed four runs, three earned, in going the first four innings on the hill for the Sentinels.
But the Saints scored seven runs off the Sentinels’ bullpen in the fifth, combining five hits and four walks into their runs.
Byrne had a two-run single in the inning and Ronan Rowe had a straight steal of home.
Hunter Fales, Byrne, Max Britten and Jason Pescetti all had two hits each for the Saints, with Fales and Kihl Kelly rapping triples.
The Sentinels’ three hits in the fourth inning were their lone hits in the contest.
“We are very pleased with the team this year,” Dorsett said. “We only had two returning starters (Jackson Dorsett and Dom Crossman) and were really inexperienced. We had a lot of room to grow and we did that.
“We didn’t know what to expect from the team, but we still held them to the standards of winning the sectionals and playing in the states. We’re just hoping that now with the experience we have, we can carry into next year.”
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Saratoga Catholic 11, Ticonderoga 1 (5)
TCS 000 10 — 1 3 2
SC 101 27 — 11 11 0
Byrne, Selig (4) and Fales. Dorsett, Crossman (5), Bechtold (5) and Crossman, Dorsett (5), Crossman (5). WP- Byrne. LP- Dorsett. 3B- Fales (SC), Kelly (SC).