NYSPHSAA BASEBALL: EARLY DEFICIT TOO MUCH FOR HORSEHEADS TO OVERCOME IN STATE SEMIS LOSS (24 PHOTOS) (June 12, 2026)

BY BRIAN FEES
Southern Tier Sports Report
BINGHAMTON — Pitch after pitch after pitch Brayden Fougnier battled against Horseheads Cooper Ball with the bases loaded in the first inning.

Fougnier fouled off three straight pitches twice. He took a 1-2 count to 3-2 before drawing a walk on the 11th pitch he saw. One batter later Nathan Creaser flared a single just over third base and it was 3-0 West Genesee, and the Horseheads Blue Raiders never came all the way back in a 5-1 loss in the state semifinals. 

Three runs in the first inning, two more in the second and West Genesee built a lead that proved to be too much to overcome.

“There are a lot of things you can’t really do offensively once you get down 5-0,” Horseheads coach Andy Scott said. “You can’t really play small ball too much. You don’t really want to give up too many outs. End of the day I thought the kids battled. We got ourselves a run, bases loaded, with our three and four hitters up and it just didn’t pan out today. 

“I thought Cooper (Ball) did a really nice job after the second inning. I went up to him and said, you’ve got to relax and just go show what you are made of and he went down and did a real nice job third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. I thought he showed a lot of character and handled adversity well.”

West Genesee came out and were patient at the plate, working counts and making Ball throw 38 pitches in the opening inning. 

“It’s a really good team,” Ball said. “They have 12 seniors, they played last year here in the final four. That’s a great program, he’s a great coach. When you get to the final four you aren’t going to have it on easy street. It’s going to be a really tough one. I thought the kids did great, winning two regional games. Getting here and things didn’t go our way this year, but they should be really proud of themselves.”

Ball set the first two hitters down in over to start the bottom of the first inning. West Genesee got a two-out single, and then came a five-plus minute delay as West Genesee discussed a situation involving the courtesy runner. Ball paced around the mound, waiting to get a chance to throw another pitch. When he did pitch again he allowed a single and hit a batter, before West Genesee got the walk and two-run single. 

“We had a man on first, two outs and it just kind of went downhill real quick and they just got that flare base hit down the line and it scored two,” Scott said. “I was really proud of how we regrouped and showed character and the kids battled. I thought for the most part they had good approaches at the plate. I thought we hit a really good pitcher today. I thought we had good at-bats, got approaches and it just didn’t go our way.”

In the second inning Beckett Doane hit a two-out double, but West Genesee pitcher Colin Crinnin got the strikeout to end the threat. 

In the third inning Dmitri Charlanow had a lead-off single but three straight outs ended the inning. 

Cooper Ball walked to lead off the fourth and Lyncoln Bennett reached on an error. That’s when the West Genesee defense turned a double play and then Crinnin got a fly out to end the threat.

“There third baseman had a nice one (defensive play), the shortstop,” Scott said. “They are a senior laden team and they were here last year and didn’t get to taste the success we did. They wanted it today and things went their way. I thought our kids battled today and I’m proud of them. The fact that we got back here is a testament to who they are as individuals, and ball players. I’m proud of them.

“We had first and second and (Hunter) Matkosky had a line drive. It was a great hit, just right at him. We didn’t want to bunt there because last at bate he (Matkosky) nearly hit one out. We said let’s give him a shot because last time he laced it, but it was right at people. We had a couple of those today, that’s baseball. That’s why the best teams in the majors lose 60 games and are still champions.”

West Gensee is headed to the state final for the first time in program history. 

In the fifth inning Ryan Weigand came off the bench and had a pinch-hit lead-off single.

“A lot of the boys had really good approaches,” Scott said. “I’m really proud of Ryan Weigand. He came off the bench and had that base hit for us and sort of got that really going for us today. It’s a team effort. It’s someone new every day. Credit to those kids. I’m glad I had an opportunity to be around these guys the last three months and I’m glad this program got to be back here. Because the guys before us established a great program, a great tradition.”

Charlanow followed the Weigand single with his own single. Chase Mashanic hit a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third and AJ Sheehan singled home Weigand to cut the deficit to 5-1. A walk to Keagan Monahan loaded the bases, but Crinnin got a pair of pop outs to end the threat. 

Horseheads went down 1-2-3 in the sixth and after a Charlanow walk to start the seventh, Crinnin put the next three batters down in order. 

After the second inning Ball allowed just two base runners, a walk and a single, the rest of the game. 

Overall Ball struck out eight and allowed six hits and the five runs. Crinnin went all seven for West Genesee, striking out five and allowing a run on four hits. 

Charlanow had two hits for Horseheads and Weigand and AJ Sheehan had hits, with Sheehan getting the RBI and Weigand the run.

Jesse had two hits for West Genesee. 

Scott knows how much the senior group has accomplished in their careers.

“We have some really, really good seniors,” he said. “I’m really proud of them. It’s one of the reasons I took the job in the first place, I got to coach all of them on JV. They are good kids. They work hard. They are good people and they are unselfish. It’s hard to find those things. They can say when they leave here they got to play on a sate championship team and another state final four team. No team in Horseheads has ever been back-to-back in the final four and I’m just really proud of them. They have nothing to hang their head about. They have accomplished more than just about any athlete I’ve been able to coach.”

A number of regulars, including starting pitcher Ball, and the team’s No. 2 starter Mason Markle, are underclassmen and will return next year. 

“I think it’s nice to have a taste of it,” Scott said. “We have some really good teams in Section 4. It’s never going to be easy to get past the section. Tat the end of the day there are a lot of really good returners. They work hard, credit to them. Looking forward to another good year. But, what do you do in the offseason to make you better in the season. I know they’ll do the work.”
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PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES

PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME:

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