Mechanicville grinds out 6-5 victory over Tamarac with late comeback

TROY, NY » The Mechanicville and Tamarac baseball teams had an early season battle on Monday afternoon. In a game with four lead changes, the Red Raiders were able to make a comeback in the top of the seventh and hold on for the win.

“We kept out heads in the game, kept working and never let up,” said Mechanicville junior catcher Zachary Hartz.

The Red Raiders won the ballgame 6-5, overcoming a monstrous offensive day from Tamarac’s Greg Mays, who hit two home runs.

Tamarac got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning, with Mays drilling a solo homer to center field.

Mechanicville responded in the top of the third, when Anthony Fiacco knocked a three-run, bases clearing double to right, scoring William Coreno, Ryan Grimmick, and Scott Lynch.

The Red Raiders added one more in the fourth when Tyler Tesoriero - after stealing third base - scored in a wild pitch, giving Mechanicville a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Bengals began to chip away at Mechanicville’s lead. Aiden

McDonough singled home James Blake to cut the deficit to two. In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Sears brought home Zach Rice to make it a one-run ballgame.

Then, Greg Mays came up to the plate again and he did his thing. Mays’ second home run of the game, a two-run shot, gave Tamarac a 5-4 lead.

Tamarac starting pitcher, Colby Phelps, threw the first five innings, giving up four runs - one earned - on two hits, while striking out eight and walking three. Once they got the lead, Tamarac handed the ball to Liam Ring, who worked a scoreless sixth inning.

Mechanicville starter, Grimmick, also went five innings, giving up five runs, all of which were earned. He struck out five and walked two.

It came down to the top of the seventh for Mechanicville and they weren’t going down without a fight.

“We just wanted to put the ball in play and make them make plays,” said senior Devin Garland. “Zach (Hartz) came up with a huge double and put us in a great position to win the game.”

Scott Lynch led off the inning and was hit by the pitch. Hartz followed with a double, giving the Red Raiders runners on second and third, with no outs. An Anthony Fiacco RBI groundout tied the game up 6-6, with Hartz advancing to third.

With two outs and a tie game, Mechanicville got lucky as Garland reached first base on an error, allowing Hartz to score on the play and giving the Red Raiders the lead. As Garland noted, when you put the ball in play and make the defense field the ball, anything can happen.

“It’s definitely a different feeling winning a game like this. Seeing the guys all hyped up as we went back ahead and then closed it out, it really gets you going and it’s just feels amazing to be back playing baseball,” Hartz said. “This is a good group of guys and we’re all putting in the hard work.”

It was up to Colin Richardson to slam the door. He made it interesting, but for a freshman arm out of the bullpen, he made the pitches when they counted. After relieving Grimmick in the sixth, Richardson worked two scoreless innings, striking out five batters while allowing two hits and hitting one, as he picked up the win.

“It shows toughness within our team. We scrap, scrap and scrap and we were able to come out with a win that feels really nice,” Garland said of the win. “Blowout wins are always good for our confidence, but wins like this really show what we’re about as a team.”

Late in the game, Tamarac had removed Mays from the lineup as an early season precaution, due to a potential injury. He would have been up second in the bottom of the seventh inning. While it was reported after the game that he was doing okay, Mechanicville had taken a sigh of relief when they saw he wasn’t coming back up to hit, as he had gone two-for-three, with two home runs and three RBIs.

While the Bengals outhit the Red Raiders 13-5, their three errors proved costly, giving Mechanicville the early-season victory, in a matchup many would like to see again. FINAL: MECHANICVILLE 6, TAMARAC 5

Tamarac High School

Troy, NY

MECHANICVILLE 0-0-3-1-0-0-2 — 6-5-0 TAMARAC 1-0-0-1-3-0-0 — 5-13-3

WP: Colin Richardson; LP: Liam Ring 2B: Hartz (M), Fiacco (M)

HR: Mays 2 (T)