Everything comes together for Lansingburgh
Lansingburgh beats Burnt Hills/ Ballston Lake 5-2 with strong play all over the diamond
TROY, N.Y. >> It was everything that Lansingburgh could have wanted in an early-season win. Spotless defense, timely offense late in the game, and shutdown pitching over the final three innings.
It all combined to give the Knights an important 5-2 win over Burnt Hills/ Ballston Lake, another Class A team that could present an interesting rematch in the sectional playoffs.
“Early in the season, that’s what we kind of build our team on — pitching and defense,” Lansingburgh head coach Matt Cater said. “I’ve told the kids on more than one occasion, and we talk about it all the time, being aggressive on defense. Being a good solid defense, and letting our pitchers do their job.”
Burnt Hills took a 1- 0 lead in the first inning, but the Knights would get it back with an RBI double from Alonzo Barrett over the center fielder’s head to make it 1-1. The Spartans wasted little time the next half inning with an RBI single to left field. But a slew of walks, hit batters and hits allowed gave Lansingburgh four game-separating runs. That would be all the scoring all afternoon.
It was a chilly afternoon on the Knights campus, which might have contributed to some of the pitchers; struggles to hit the zone. Still, it was a really clean game for Lansingburgh at a time in the season where that might not be expected.
“Our main goal is to the throw strikes,” reliever Junie Nunez said. “Throw strikes and let the defense do the rest.
Maybe the most impressive performance of the day was from Nunez, who really worked in the strike zone, and pitched to contact well. His three innings featured just a couple of hits. The game had been bogged down by walks and long counts, and he mowed down the Spartans lineup to pick up the crucial win.
The two teams come from different leagues — Lansingburgh from the Colonial Council and Burnt HIlls from the Suburban Council, but there’s every chance their seasons aren’t done intertwining. When the Class A playoffs come around, this matchup could present itself in the form of a do or die game.
This time, though, it was Lansingburgh. They had the timely hitting and the goodenough pitching to get the job done.
“We talk about having situational hitting and making a pitcher throw strikes,” Cater said. “When we get in a good hitting count, we’ve got to take advantage of that and try to get the baseball to the barrel. That’s kind of been our M.O. for the last couple years offensively.”