Black Horses come up just short
Schuylerville rallies, but falls in extra innings in Class B title game
Schuylerville was down but not out several times this high school baseball season, and it was the case again Saturday in the Class B state final.
The Black Horses, who absorbed six losses early on and came from behind Friday to win their semifinal game, trailed Spackenkill of Section IX 4-1 midway through their title matchup. Schuylerville rallied in the fifth to tie the game, which ultimately went to extra innings.
That’s where the magic ended. Spackenkill scored twice in the top of the eighth and held on for a 6-4 victory at Binghamton University’s new baseball complex.
“You get into this stage and suffer a loss like that, there’s two ways to look at it,” Schuylerville coach Darrin Renner said. “You can look at it that it’s hard to digest, but you can also look at it that my kids were down 4-1 in a big game, and they rallied back with all their heart, came back, fought for it. We had a chance in the bottom of the seventh inning to put it away.”
Schuylerville (21-7) had only five hits but capitalized on six walks to establish baserunners in each of the first seven innings. Ashton Morris, after drawing a free pass to start the third, later scored on a wild pitch to narrow the Black Horses’ deficit to 2-1.
After the Spartans (25-2) knocked out Schuylerville starter Brendan Steinberg with a tworun fifth, the Black Horses bounced back with three in the bottom half. Carson Patrick’s triple plated two, and he scored on Mark Earley’s sacrifice fly.
“We were having good at-bats all game,” Patrick said. “We knew if we stayed confident, had good at-bats, we’d break through at some point. We did that inning and made it a game again.”
Owen Sherman, in relief of Steinberg, quieted the Spackenkill bats in the sixth and seventh, giving Schuylerville an opportunity for a walk-off victory. Patrick led off the seventh with a single but was picked off first base by catcher Nick Ryone.
That was the last Schuyerville baserunner. The Black Horses were retired in order — for the only time in the game — in the bottom of the eighth.
“We knew they were a heck of a team coming in,” Renner said. “We gave them everything they could handle and we hung around
and kept fighting right to the last out. I’m really proud of the kids and how they did this year.”
It was the Black Horses’ second straight trip to the state final. They were here in 2019, and the tournament wasn’t held in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID-19.
“Right now they’re feeling down,” Renner said. “It was in their grasp and they didn’t get there, but as they sit back and
reflect on this game, they’re going to be proud of themselves and think about how awesome of a season it was. The fact that they went extra innings in the state championship game and had their chances, that’s what’s all about.”