Silversmiths eliminated from playoff contention

CORTLAND 3, SHERRILL 2 » Tyler Schmidt’s two-run home run in the top of the third staked the Crush to a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s NYCBL game before David White homered to extend the advantage to 3-0 in the fourth. Vincent Timpanelli and Nicholas Wydler hit back-to-back home runs for the Silversmiths in the home half of the fourth but they wouldn’t score again, falling out of contention for a playoff spot with a loss on the second-to-last day of the season.

Friday’s Results NYCBL

SHERRILL 10, SYRACUSE 5 » Michael Wroth hit three home runs, including a third-inning grand slame, for the Silversmiths in the victory over the Spartans. Wroth went 4 for 5 at the plate with four runs scored and seven RBI while Oneida alum Mitch Cavanagh pitched five innings to earn the win on the mound.

Thursday’s Results Legion Baseball

SHERRILL POST 3, ADREAN POST 2 (9 INNINGS) » Nate Palmer’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth scored Blake VanDreason for the walk-off win in the elimination game. SHERRILL POST 11, ORISKANY POST 0 (5 INNINGS) » Andrew Roden went 2 for 2 with four RBI for Sherrill Post, which won its second straight elimination game to advance to Friday’s championship. with these kids,” said coach Roden. “They’re just unbelievable. They don’t die. We’ve had so many people, especially in this playoffs, step up that, you know, you take the Horodnick kid. He comes out, this is his first time pitching for us this year, he comes out in a championship game, gives up a home run, keeps his composure, battles back and comes back and ties the game up. I mean, what more can I say? We’ve had a lot of players that didthat this week in this playoff.”

Ryan Palmer was certainly one of them on Friday, playing a key role in setting up Horodnick’s heroics. He threw 36 pitches for a five-out save on Wednesday and came back to pitch two scoreless innings to earn a save in the first game Friday before throwing five solid innings in the second to keep Sherrill Post in the game.

“I don’t pitch too often, but with the team situation I gotta do what my team needs,” he said. “It’s the championship. There’s more pressure than I could probably handle but my team helped me get through it.

“Since it’s my last year, it feels great (to winthe title). There’s no other way to describe it.”

Sherrill Post entered Friday needing two victories over Smith Post on Friday to earn the title while the Rome squad needed to take just one game. Roden’s squad jumped out to an early lead, scoring twice against Derek Switzer in the top of the first inning of the first game. Nate Palmer drew a leadoff walk before stealing second and third with Tyler Rotach batting. Rotach walked as well and stole second before Davey Moffett hit a sacrifice fly to score Palmer. Zach Nell added an RBI single two batters later, extending the lead to 2-0.

Smith Post came back to tie the score against Sherrill Post starter Blake VanDreason in the bottom of the second. Zachary Taylor singled with one out and Brett Granger added a single of his own two batters later. Cole Donnelly then lined a shot over Connor VanDreason’s head in right field for a two-run triple, knotting the score at 2-2.

Sherrill Post reclaimed a two-run lead in the top of the fourth, starting with a single by Ryan Palmer with one out. Dylan Shlotzhauer Sherrill Post’s Jacob Horodnick winds up to throw a pitch to a Smith Post batter. walked before an error on a Connor VanDreason bunt scored Palmer. Nate Palmer added a sacrifice fly to score Shlotzhauer, extending the lead to 4-2.

That would be enough for Blake VanDreason, who benefited from some tremendous defense behind him. Nate Palmer made a tremendous diving catch in center field to end the bottom of the fourth, stranding a runner on first. With a runner on second and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Nell made a diving stop at third to hold Tyler Schoff to a single. VanDreason struck Ryan Samuels out looking before Moffett hit the ground to make a catch in left field to end the inning.

The Sherrill Post starter allowed two runs on four hits over his five innings, walking four and striking out three to earn the win.

Nate Palmer hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to score Shlotzhauer and extend the lead, scoring himself on a single by Moffett to push the lead to 6-2.

Ryan Palmer took the mound in the bottom of the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings, with his team adding an insurance run in the top of the seventh for a 7-2 victory.

Nate Palmer went 1 for 2 with a walk in the first game, driving in two runs and scoring two more while also stealing four bases.

His older brother Ryan remained on the mound to start game two and surrendered a leadoff double to Derrick Miller in the top of the first. Samuels brought him home with an infield single, giving Smith Post a 1-0 lead.

Some shaky Sherrill Post defense helped Smith Post add to its advantage in the top of the second. Twice players were late covering first, first on a ground ball to second and then on a bunt, allowing two baserunners and eventually two runs that pushed the edge to 3-0.

Sherrill Post came back to tie the score in the bottom of the second after loading the bases with no outs. A wild pitch to TJ Horodnick scored Blake VanDreason from third and Nate Palmer doubled two batters later, plating Ryan Palmer and Shlotzhauer to even the score at 3-3.

Moffett walked to lead off the bottom of the third before Andrew Roden doubled and an error on the play allowed Moffett to score. Roden took third on the play and a groundout from Nell brought him home to give Sherrill Post a 5-3 lead.

Chambers started a Smith Post rally with a one-out single in the top of the fifth, scoring on a Schoff double. Samuels then reached on an error that scored Schoff and tied the score at 5-5.

Jacob Horodnick took the mound in the top of the sixth and retired his first two hitters before walking the next two. Chambers then ripped a pitch down the left field line and over the fence for a three-run home run, giving Smith Post an 8-5 lead.

“I left it inside,” said Horodnick. “I was supposed to hit my outside spot and I just didn’t hit it.”

Sherrill Post was down entering the bottom of the sixth but Nell quickly made it clear his team was not out, leading off with a single. Palmer singled two batters later and Shlotzhauer added another base hit to score Nell and close the gap to 8-6. With runners on the corners and Jacob Horodnick batting, Shlotzhauer stole second. Horodnick then lifted the ball over the drawn-in infield for a two-run single to tie the score at 8-8.

“I knew I had to get that hit,” he said. “I was in there and that’s all I was doing. I knew I had to hit the ball. Nomatter where I hit it, as long as I hit the ball. I had to move those runners over to get at least one run in.

“It was a fastball right down the middle and I just took it opposite way.”

Nate Palmer and Rotach kept the rally going with singles to load the bases for Moffett. Chambers tried to pick Horodnick off third but, with the third baseman slow to cover, his throw from behind the plate sailed into left field and allowed two runs to score to extend the lead to 10-8.

With the two-run edge, Horodnick quickly retired the side in order in the top of the seventh to seal the victory and the District 5 championship.

“They keep battling,” said John Roden. “The whole time, you know, they’re supporting each other and, I mean, we’re just here kind of driving the bus. They’re the ones that are doing all the stuff. They believe in each other and we’ve been saying this whole week it’s not one or two guys, it’s 13 people. Thirteen people, that’s what won this for us.”

Sherrill Post advances to the New York State tournament and will face Binghamton Post in its first game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Murnane Field.