SHENENDEHOWA RALLIES PAST TROY
Flying Horses’ season ends in 5-3 defeat to Plainsmen
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> It isn’t often that the Shenendehowa baseball team has had to play a first round game, it’s even rarer to be the No. 8 seed in the Class AA bracket.
What was more incredible on Tuesday afternoon was that Plainsmen sophomore Brendan Disonell pitched four and onethird innings in relief to earn the win against Troy High School.
Brendan Disonell came on for senior starter John Cady with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the third inning and al- lowed just two runs on four hits. His teammates put across four runs of their own in the fifth inning on their way to a 5-3 win.
“I started on JV and then five games left in the season I got a call up in the middle of practice out of nowhere, I had to gear up and get ready for varsity,” Brendan Disonell said. “I got the win against Troy before, allowed only one earned run that game in five innings. Today pitched against them and think I did all right and I pitched two innings against Saratoga.
“Today, I wasn’t that nervous. The first time, I mean I was
sweating buckets, I was. I faced these guys, I know their weaknesses, I know that ( David) Judge is a really good hitter, I had to pitch to him a certain way. He just can’t get out, I don’t know how to get that guy out, he’s good.”
It was Troy’s Judge who put the Flying Horses ahead in the top of the third inning, leading off with a single up the middle, moving around on a walk and a hit batter before John Germinerio earned an RBI with his own walk. That ended the
day for Shenendehowa’s Cady.
Troy applied more pressure in the top of the fifth when Matthew Ashley reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored on Germinerio’s RBI single to centerfield for a 2- 0 lead.
The Plainsmen rallied in the bottom of the fifth inning as the sun started to go down on the defending New York State champions season.
Devin Disonell led off with a walk, lifted for pinch runner Ben Voce, moving on Kurt Forsell’s infield bunt, reaching first safely. Both runners advanced on a passed ball before Griffin Wallner put
Shen on the board with his sacrifice fly to centerfield. Joe Palko walked before Brendan Spulnick reached on an infield dribbler, scoring Forsell to knot the game at two runs apiece.
Michael Spulnick delivered a two- out two- run double, scoring Palko and Brendan Spulnick for the eventual game- winning RBI.
“I was looking for a good pitch to hit, a strike or something,” Michael Spulnick said. “There was a guy on second, so I was trying to do whatever I could do just to get the run in. Give credit to the guys who got on the base for me, so shout out
to them.”
Troy’s David Judge made his last at- bat of the year count, driving in Zachary Ziter who led off the top of the sixth with a single and Judge drove him in with a rope into the left centerfield gap to cut the lead, 4- 3.
Flying Horses starter Michael Hughes went the legal and physical distance on the mound for Troy Tuesday afternoon, going five and two-thirds innings. He allowed all five runs on six hits.
Shenendehowa wi l l travel to face No. 1 seeded Christian Brothers Academy Thursday afternoon in the Class AA quarterfinal match-up.