Grand finale at Geer for Cadets
Grandjean’s walkoff single caps La Salle’s comeback win over Columbia
TROY, N.Y.>> After Noah Grandjean got picked off of first base with no one out in the fifth inning, he slammed his helmet on the base and threw it in frustration to the dugout.
The mistake put his team five outs away from the season being over, down two runs to Columbia.
It wouldn’t be more than one hour and three runs later that Grandjean was being mobbed by all of his teammates. After his mistake, he was the walk- off hero in a 5- 4 Class AA Section II win.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play and get that game-winning hit,” Grandjean said. “It just felt great. I’ve been struggling a little bit, coming into this game. So it just felt great to get that last hit there.”
Columbia took a 3-1 lead in the second inning and rode that lead all the way to the sixth inning behind ace pitcher Danny Watson. The hard-thrower was setting the Cadets aside quickly most innings. But the comeback win assures La Salle, the only Colonial Council team in the bracket, a shot at No. 3 seed Ballston Spa in the Class AA quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
In the sixth, two-straight hard hit balls put the tying runs in scoring position for Tim Carroll. He hit a sacrifice fly.
Then in the top of the seventh, three bad defensive plays from the Cadets, including two errors helped push across another Blue Devils run. That, however, was when La Salle coach Jesse Braverman thinks the tide turned. Quentin Crudo got out of a second and third, no- out jam to keep the score at 4-2.
“The hardest thing to do in baseball is to pitch and play defense when you’re behind,” Braverman said. “You can’t catch up if they keep scoring. We had some really clutch pitching and plays in the field to keep the game close.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Watson stuck out his first opponent. But then, his fatigued arm ran out of gas.
He walked the next three batters on 14 pitches, and was pulled from the game. The next batters, DJ McMahon and Kyle Borey both singled to tie the game. Borey said it changed the complexion of the game to have a pitcher like Watson off the rubber.
Braverman elected to hold the runner at third base after Borey’s single, preventing a chance at a game- winning hit. Still, the bases were loaded with just one out. Nick Hansen, and Carroll both ground out though, to end
the threat and send the game to extra innings.
“It kind of says that we’re relentless,” Borey said. “That we have faith in each other. That we really believe in each other and we know we can get it down no matter how much we’re down.”
In the eighth, Grandjean singled in the winning run, Cory Listing, who was on third base with one out. The win was the second straight dramatic victory for the Cadets, who defeated previously undefeated Ichabod Crane in 13 innings just five days before.
This game, though, in front of a packed Geer Field with many students coming out to watch, had more importance. And when they dog- piled on the field, it felt a little more special.
“This team is great,” Grandjean said. “They have great energy. It’s just great.”