BY CHRIS MANNINGSouthern Tier Sports Report
ENDWELL — In his first at bat Horseheads' Dimitri Charlanow saw a fast ball and vowed not let the next one go by. He made good on that promise, sending the second one he saw into the trees on the other side of the right field fence for a 2-run home run, which was more than the Blue Raiders needed with Cooper Ball on the mound in their 5-0 win over Garden City in sub-regional playoff baseball action Tuesday.
"I'm real proud of the kids," said Horseheads coach Andy Scott. "The last couple of days they really prepared well against a left-hander. We tried a bunch of different things off machines, and we brought in arms, and just trying all different angles and stuff. I thought they really worked the county pretty well, and did a nice job."
It definitely paid off as Horseheads pounded out eight hits, including three extra base smacks.
Charlanow went 3-for-3 to lead the way, with two runs scored, and 3-RBI.
"I haven't done that all year, it's awesome." Charlanow said. "We've just been practicing off the pitching machine, and it's making me see the ball really well, along with just working on approaches and stuff at the plate."
Beckett Doane (2-for-3) had a big day, too, with two runs scored, and a double, while Ball did a lot to help himself out, going 2-for-3 with 2-RBI.
Lyncoln Bennett (1-for-3) also had a hit as Kegan Monahan scored a run.
"Any time you can get ahead it's going to be good for us," said Scott. "(Charlanow) has come a long way in the postseason for us, he's done a really nice job. And also Doane has been hitting the ball really, really well."
The fact that it was the bottom of the order doing a lot of the damage Tuesday gives Scott confidence going into Friday's state quarterfinal game.
"It's nice that if you want to try to pitch one way to the top of the order, I think the bottom of the order is doing really well," he said. "It's going to be six one way, a half dozen the other."
Of course, with the way Ball threw it wouldn't have taken much. The junior tossed a 1-hit shutout with three walks, and nine strikeouts.
He got stronger as the game went on, returning the last 12 batters he faced, and Garden City had just two base runners after the second inning.
"It feels amazing," Ball said about shutting down the Trojans. "I knew they were a good hitting team, and I did everything in my power - the whole team did - we all did whatever we could, and it worked out."
After a few walks early Ball found the zone, especially with his breaking pitch, which he used to great effect as he struck out five of the last nine hitters he faced.
"The second inning, the third inning I lost it a little bit, but I figured it back out, and I think it was unhittable after that," Ball said. "I felt really good out there towards the end. I know as soon as I settled in - I think the score says it for itself."
It's the type of performance Scott has come to expect and relishes it every time Ball delivers.
"Cooper's performance was incredible today," he remarked. "He just came out, maybe was a little bit high in the zone early, and then he figured it out. The last four innings he was pretty much unhittable. That's why he's a Division-I pitcher. He's only a junior, but he's a big-time player, and he does a lot of good things. He competes, too, and his bat was huge, too, to put us up 4-0. That was huge."
Ball got a lot of help from his defense, particularly first baseman Hunter Matkosky. Filling in for Ball, who mans that position when he's not pitching, Matkosky made three run saving plays with the glove.
"I just got done telling him I was real proud of him," Scott said. "The one was unassisted, the one was a flip to Coop, and then that diving play, or else it would have been the other way 2-0."
Thomas Bacich (1-for-3) had the double for Garden City with Joseph Carey going 5 1/3-innings in the loss for the Trojans. He struck out 10 while allowing one walk, seven hits, and five earned runs.
It was Garden City making some noise first as Bacich hit a 2-out double in the top of the second, a bloop that Horseheads left fielder Ben Torgalski just couldn't quite get to.
Bacich would take third on a passed ball, followed by Ball issuing a walk to Kyle Walsh. Walsh would steal second on a delayed steal to put two runners in scoring position.
Garden City's Justin Baiker would hit a little pop up towards first. Matkosky ran up and made the diving catch to end the threat.
The momentum changed in the bottom half of the inning with Doane's 1-out double into the right-center gap.
After a second out Charlanow stepped to the plate, taking the 0-1 offering over the right field fence.
"He came out with a first pitch fast ball, and I was like, 'I'm seeing this really well,'" Charlanow explained. "It looked like what we saw all week. Then, I don't even know, I just put the bat on the ball the next swing and it was gone."
Charlanow has worked his way from pinch runner to starter and that paid off with the blast.
"I was fired up," he said. "That was awesome, it was probably one of the coolest things I've ever done in baseball, it just made my year."
Nobody was happier to see that ball go over the fence than Ball.
"I knew as soon as we scored I knew there was no chance," he said. "I knew exactly that we would win because our hitting was the best, our defense, and I felt like I was confident on the mound."
In the third Garden City's Caiden Lang drew a lead-off walk, and got to third base, but another big play by Matkosky, this time snagging a hard ground ball, gave the Raiders the ender.
Then in the fourth Jack Murphy drew a lead-off walk then stole second two batters later. Bacich hit a hard grounder but Matkosky knocked it down, and flipped it to Ball for the out, preserving the shutout.
Horseheads would get two more insurance runs in the fifth as Charlanow led off with a hit. After two outs Monahan drew a walk, setting a Ball double that drove both of them in to extend their lead.
The final Blue Raiders run came in the sixth as Doane had a 1-out single. After a strikeout Charlanow had another clutch 2-out Horseheads hit, hitting a single up the middle to score Doane for the 5-0 lead.
Horseheads will hit the road for ESL Ballpark in Rochester for a 7 p.m. first pitch Friday. They play the winner of Hamburg and Webster Schroeder.
If they hit on Friday like they did on Tuesday Horseheads feels they have a good shot to keep advancing.
"When we get behind the pitcher, get runs for them, we know we're going to win," Charlanow said. "That's what we do. When we can do it, it's great."
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PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING
