The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Sherrill Post wins in walk-off fashion
Moffett plates Palmer in bottom of 10th against Binghamton Post
UTICA, N.Y. » Sherrill Post had its fair share of close games in the American Legion Baseball District 5 playoffs, winning most of them to capture the championship.
Fittingly, it started the state tournament with another nailbiter.
Davey Moffett’s walk-off single scored Nate Palmer in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving Sherrill Post a 3-2 firstround victory over Binghamton Post.
“Thebig thing is, it’s a team,” said Sherrill Post coach John Roden. “It’s a family and it’s a team and they keep battling.
“I really believe we’re one of the hottest teams right now, the way that we’re playing ball. I think the last thing I read is we had won 10 out of 11 games before this one. These kids have a lot of confidence, they don’t die, they don’t get down when they get behind.”
TJ Horodnick earned the victory on the mound with a scoreless inning in relief of Connor Van-Dreason, who turned in an outstanding performance. The Sherrill Post starter pitched nine innings, allowing two runs – one earned – on eight hits with five strikeouts and a walk.
Moffett went 3 for 5 in the
victory, scoring one run in addition to driving in the game-winner.
“It’s huge to get it under-she said. “It’s so big, especially to be in a close game, I’m glad we could come through.”
Both VanDreason and Binghamton Post’s Austin Haskell were dominant early on, with just one runner reaching base over the first three innings. Samuel Chapman walked with two outs in the top of the third for Binghamton Post but VanDreason used a fantastic pickoff move to get the third out without throwing another pitch.
Haskell, meanwhile, retired his first 11 batters before Sherrill Post began to find some success. Roden’s squad put two baserunners on in the bottom of the fourth and then again in the bottom of the fifth but failed to score each time.
A pair of defensive miscues in the top of the sixth resulted in the game’s first run. Zachary Pruden reached first leading off when Zach Nell couldn’t corral a ground ball at third, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. With Haskell batting, Pruden stole third and scored on an errant throw from Tyler Rotach to give Binghamton Post a 1-0 edge.
Sherrill Post wasted no time answering, using a two-out rally in the home half of the inning to take its first lead. Moffett started it with a two-out double and Andrew Roden was intentionally walked, bringing Nell to the plate. The infielder drove the ball to right-center field, scoring both runners to give his team a 2-1 advantage.
Binghamton Post pulled even again in the top of the seventh when Cody Malyszek hit a one-out double and scored on a Chapman single two batters later, knotting the score at 2-2.
The score would stay that way into the 10th inning, although Binghamton Post threatened in the top of the eight. Liam Gallagher and Haskell led off with back-toback singles and a base hit by Connor Wilson two batters later loaded the bases with one out. VanDreason got out of the jam with a pair of ground balls, the first to Nell who made the throw home to force Gallagher out. Shortstop Blake VanDreason then got his brother out of the inning, fielding a slow ground ball behind the mound andmaking the throw to first in time for the third out.
Haskell finished his day by retiring seven of the final eight batters he faced. The Binghamton Post starter threw eight innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Gallagher pitched the bottom of the ninth in relief and stranded a pair of baserunners. Binghamton Post put runners on the corners with two outs against Horodnick in the top of the 10th but he got a ground ball out to keep the score tied at 2-2.
Sherrill Post got exactly what it needed in the bottom of the 10th when Palmer led off with a single.
“I can tell you one thing, he’s not going to stay at first,” said Roden. “The only thing is today, that catcher they had did one heck of a job. He’s probably the best catcher that we’ve played against so far. Strong arm and you look at the plays, that would have been a battle for Nate to steal there.”
Palmer wouldn’t have to try to steal second. Rotach put down a perfect bunt to advance himto second and, on the first pitch to Moffett, Palmer safely stole third.
“I saw the third baseman all the way back so I knew I had a good chance of getting there,” he said.
With Binghamton Post forced to bring the infield in, Moffett grounded Gallagher’s next pitch past third for the walkoff single, tossing his helmet in celebration before getting mobbed by his teammates.
“First pitch I saw Nate going and it’s a lot easier knowing you can just hit a fly ball and Nate, with his speed, he’s going to get home,” said Moffett. “So I took that and once he got there I knewI just needed to make contact and just put it in play and I did. I’m glad I could help the team.”
Sherrill Post advanced to face Grand Island on Wednesday. Results from that game were not available at the time of this report but can be found on the Dispatchwebsite: www.oneidadispatch.com/sports