SECTION 4 BASEBALL: MARKLE COMES UP BIG AS HORSEHEADS TOPS VESTAL TO WIN SECTIONAL TITLE (24 PHOTOS) (May 29, 2026)

BY BRIAN FEES
Southern Tier Sports Report
HORSEHEADS — One night earlier Mason Markle didn’t have things working on the mound. 

The Blue Raiders pitcher started game two of the best-of-three Section IV, Class AA championship series, and lasted just one inning in a loss at Vestal. 

Coach Andy Scott and the Blue Raiders coaching staff realized that it wasn’t Markle’s night and pulled him after a 31-pitch first inning, getting him out before he hit the 40-pitch cutoff. That allowed Markle to start again on Friday in the final game of the series. 

Markle came up big on Friday, throwing a shutout to help lead Horseheads to a 4-0 win as they claimed the sectional title. 

“It was just one of those things,” Scott said. “Yesterday we just talked as a staff after the first inning. 31 pitches is usually where he is between two and three innings. He had one inning, just didn’t look great and we were like 40 is the max for the day, so we were like let’s just get him out and give him a shot tomorrow. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. We rolled the dice a little bit and he did a great job today. He was not going to be denied twice.

“He is a dirt dog. He’s really good. He’s done a really good job on the mound. He’s a competitor who plays hard. He wanted the ball, which was good. We had Cooper (Ball) just in case, but he had thrown earlier in the week a bunch of pitches, so we were trying not to use him and luckily we didn’t have to.”

Markle allowed just five hits on Friday, striking out nine. 

For Markle it was nice to get the chance on Friday after what happened the previous day.

“First inning (Thursday) was a little rough,” Markle said. “I had an error, shortstop had an error, and I wasn’t pitching too good. It was definitely good to come back and get the win in a win or go home game. They just told me they were going to take me out and we were going to get it today. After last night I couldn’t go home without a win tonight.”

Knowing that he was going to pitch on Friday made for a bit of a sleepless night on Thursday.

“Honestly, I was thinking about it all night,” Markle said. 

Right from the start on Friday Markle was fired up, striking out two in the opening inning.

“I was super pumped every inning,” Markle said. “Just getting those strikeouts to end the innings. My teammates making plays. It was amazing. It sucks to start a game, and lose. It really hurts. Just to come back and get it back was the best feeling ever.

“I was fired up from the first strikeout. In my warmups, I had so much adrenaline. I felt like we had to win the game.”

The coaches just told Markle to pitch his game.

“We just said try and stay within the moment,” Scott said. “Try and stay steady. Coach (Mike) Bennett talked to him in the dugout before the game, just making sure he was grounded and he did a really nice job. I was proud of how he handled himself.”

Markle was happy with the way his pitches were working on Friday.

“My off speed, I really like my off speed,” Markle said. “That helps me get through games and helps me offset my fastball.”

Everytime the Golden Bears had runners on base Markle came up with a big pitch on Friday.

“When they get runners on, it’s really time to execute pitches and make pitches,” Markle said. 

For Markle this was all special after a year ago he was on the JV team.

“It’s honestly amazing,” Markle said. “I was on JV last year and I just got to come up as a varsity player. It feels amazing, the progress, I went through this winter. I definitely got a lot better. It feels great to see it pay off.

“I was on JV last year. That’s why it was big for me to get this win, those guys (on the state title team) set  an example for the whole program and it’s awesome to be able to follow that up. Seeing that (the state title) just gives you the confidence that you are a Raider.”

As soon as the game ended Markle raised his arms and was ready for the dog pile that came.

“I knew the dog pile was coming,” Markle said. 

The atmosphere was electric on Friday as a huge number of students came out to cheer on the Blue Raiders. 

“There were so many people, I have never seen so many people at this field before,” Markle said. “It’s great to know we had so many people behind our back, because to be honest they had a lot of guys at their game yesterday and I was glad we were able to see that and bring our guys.”

Horseheads got off to a fast start as they got a run in the first inning, Keegan Monahan had a one-out single, stole second and scored on a Lyncoln Bennett single. 

In the third inning Monahan walked and scored on an RBI double by Ball. After Ball got to their on a Bennett bunt, he scored on a passed ball. 

Ball walked in the fifth, moved to second on a Bennett bunt and scored on a Doane single. 

Doane was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Ball and Dmitri Charlanow had doubles, with Ball driving in a run and scoring a run.

Monahan had a hit and scored two runs and Bennett had a hit and an RBI. 

“I was kind of joking with coach Bennett, I’m not sure if we have scored in the first inning in like a month, so that was nice to have that and give a little confidence to the team to,” Scott said. “After that we had a couple more in the third, which was good, and added one more later. I know back in the day it was like if we score four, we have a pretty good shot.”

For the Blue Raiders getting the win was special. 

“It’s great, it’s good for these boys,” Scott said. “They worked really, really hard. They are baseball players. Last year some kids from the state championship team and coach (Jeff) Limoncelli had those guys prepared. I always got a great JV group because he did such a great job with the varsity and now they came up and together they formed a bond. Went to Myrtle Beach and got a lot of camaraderie, team bonding, it was awesome.

“It felt really great to get this one, because Vestal is a great team and we knew it was going to be a battle for three games.”

The Blue Raiders head to regionals to take on a team out of Section VIII. 

————
PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:

Print Friendly Version