By Brian FeesSouthern Tier Sports Report
Three area teams play in the state semifinals tomorrow in Binghamton, with Horseheads baseball and softball both one game from a state final, and Corning softball looking to repeat as state champions.
“The energy at school has been high,” Horseheads baseball ace Mason Holloway said. “There’s been a buzz around both teams for this game and there’s been lots of support from teachers, students and faculty members, which we all appreciate. Both softball and baseball teams have been working extremely hard since the beginning of the season and we’re wishing them the best of luck tomorrow.”
Horseheads softball (15-4) is ranked first in the state in AA and Corning softball is second in AAA, first among public schools.
Corning takes on Section VI champion Lancaster at 2:30 p.m. at Greenlight Grand Slam Park and Horseheads meets Section I champion Clarkstown South at 4 p.m.
Clarkstown South is ranked second in the state at 22-2 and Lancaster is fourth at 15-5.
Horseheads baseball meets Webster Thomas in the Class AA baseball semis at 1 p.m. at Union-Endicott.
Horseheads is ranked second in the state at 19-2 and Webster Thomas is fifth at 19-5.
“The whole team is very excited for the opportunity to play for a state championship,” Horseheads’ Josh Stout said. “We have had good practices all week long and are definitely ready to play. The energy all week in school has been great and there has been a lot of talk going on about the games. It’s really cool that softball also gets to play tomorrow as well. There has been a lot of people wishing us luck and everyone has been very supportive of both teams.”
BASEBALL
HORSEHEADS VS. WEBSTER THOMAS
If pitching wins championships, no one has a better pitcher than Holloway.
The Blue Raiders senior has had perhaps the best season in area history, and has to be a front runner for every award not just state wide, but nationally.
Holloway, a Binghamton commit, has a 7-0 record this year, allowing one earned run, for a .12 ERA. He has a mind-boggling 105 strikeouts against no walks this year.
While Holloway has been spectacular, the offense has had a different hero every night, and the rest of the arms from Cooper Ball to Brenden Clark and Chase Mashanic have all pitched well for the Blue Raiders this year.
“We’re all super excited for tomorrow,” Holloway said. “The work we’ve put in since last summer, and how hard we’ve been preparing gives us a little comfort coming into this. We’re a family, a really tight group, so being able to play in a game of this magnitude with each other is really special.”
In the regional final against Walkill the Blue Raiders won 1-0 in 10 innings. Holloway threw nine innings of three-hit, shutout ball and sophomore Cooper Ball pitched the last inning to get the win.
Freshman Lyncoln Bennett had the game-winning hit for the Blue Raiders.
Webster Thomas also has strong pitching, senior Jacob Dicicco, sophomore Max Seaver and senior Connor Smith have combined for all 19 of their teams wins this year. Dicicco has a 7-1 record with a 1.79 ERA, Seaver is 7-2 with a 1.41 and Smith is 5-1 with a 2.55 ERA.
At the plate Webster Thomas had five starters hit over .300 on the year. They were a high contact team, with a ,286 average and 29 doubles this year, but had just one home run on the year.
“It’s definitely an honor to be a part of this team,” senior Micah Hays said. “We’ve come so far. It’s super exciting being one of a few teams in program history to win regionals and advance to the final four game. There has been a lot of energy at school considering both us and softball have made it this far and hopefully we both make it even further.”
SOFTBALL
HORSEHEADS VS. CLARKSTOWN SOUTH
The top three in the Blue Raiders lineup has been as scary as any in the state this year, but what makes the Blue Raiders even more special is the depth as the younger kids have stepped up throughout the year.
Megan Wolf allowed just one run on the mound in the regional final, she then hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning.
Wolf, a Binghamton commit, has been one of the best players in the state, while Caitlin Yearick, a St. John’s recruit leads the area in home runs and has been a force all season at the plate. Raegan Burge has been a force as the third hitter in the lineup and has also been key on the mound this year. Yearick had six home runs in one week earlier this year, including five in the three games at the tournament at Greenlight Park.
“The team is super excited to play tomorrow,” Wolf said. “We know what we have to do to be successful. Coach has done a great job preparing us this week. This week has been super fun at school because both teams are playing in the final four. The school has been very supportive and we are all excited to play this weekend.”
The trio have combined for 14 home runs this year and Wolf is hitting .550, while Yearick is at .500 on the year.
“I’ve just got to keep reminding my teammates and everyone to take this as just another game, some of us can get nervous knowing that this is the semis for states, so keeping the nerves down, but staying competitive and confident will keep us in a good groove.
“We are super excited to be in the Final Four and the team and the coaches believe we can make it all the way. In school we’ve gotten a couple of shout-outs from our teachers and school has been a little more exciting knowing at the end of the week we will be competing for states.”
While the top of the lineup has been dominant, in the sectional final against Vestal it was seventh grader Presely McInnis and eighth grader Samantha Bonnell at the bottom of the lineup who had extra base hits as the whole team has been hitting well.
Clarkstown South has won a pair of one-run games the past two times out.
Clarkstown South won an 8-7 game in their regional final. They had four players — Cara Luna, Gillian Ulrich, Carly Voce and Marina Picininni — with multiple hits in the game.
The previous game they won 7-6. Kayla Dwyer had her 50th win of her career and they had six girls with two hits each — Emma Rosario, Ulrich, Luna, Voce, Kaitlyn Rose and Giada DelloRusso.
CORNING VS. LANCASTER
After winning a state title a year ago, the Hawks are back two wins from another championship.
“We are so excited to have the opportunity to compete at the state tournament again,” junior pitcher Matti Johnston said. “We’re very grateful to be in this position and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other team.
“We were calm this whole week. We know what to expect and how to play these games. We are excited during practice and love to support each other. We are ready for our next championship games on our business trip.”
Johnston threw a no-hitter in the regional final, after a shutout in the sectional final. This is one year after she threw a no-hitter in the sectional final on the way to the state crown.
The Hawks have perhaps the deepest lineup in the state. 1-9 in the lineup can hit, and that’s with Lauren DeRosa being out of the lineup for a majority of the year. If she returns the Hawks are even deeper.
In the regional final Johnston and eighth-grader Emelia Smith, the cleanup hitter, had two hits each, but they also got three hits from number six hitter Lauren Teribury and number eight hitter Keana Mann. Six through nine in the lineup all had hits in the win, going 8-for-15.
Against Elmira the Hawks were limited to six hits, but the bottom four in the lineup combined for three of those hits.
Lancaster junior Alyssa Brunner is 10-2 with a 2.15 ERA this year, and freshman Maddy Matthews is 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA.
Junior Brennah DeWald is hitting .507 on the year with 37 hits as the leadoff hitter. Everyone with at least 25 at bats is hitting over 300 this year. They had five girls with at least 20 hits on the year.
With Johnston and DeWald as the two leadoff hitters you could have fireworks early in the game with two elite hitters at the top of the lineups.
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