Scotties survive big rally
Colonie threatens at end after trailing by seven runs in fifth
In the span of 24 hours, the Ballston Spa baseball team rallied for a victory in one game and held off a furious rally in its next encounter. The Scotties, with a break here or there, could have experienced vastly different results. As things turned out, Ballston Spa will enter its full week of Suburban Council play Monday owning a 2-0 record.
A day after scoring three times in the bottom of the seventh to knock off Guilderland, the Scotties watched Colonie load the bases in the top of the seventh Saturday. Senior reliever Joe Poirier got Colonie junior outfielder Zach Ashline to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game as Ballston Spa held on for a wild 12-10 victory over the Garnet Raiders.
Seconds after the game concluded, the two teams gathered near their baselines and tipped their hats across the diamond as coronavirus protocols do not allow traditional postgame handshakes.
Prior to opening things up Friday, the last time Ballston Spa played came when the 2019 squad captured the Class A state title.
“It is just great to see competition,” Ballston Spa third baseman/catcher Brody Keneston said.
“It has been nice to come out and play for the school again. It has been great,” Ballston Spa senior shortstop Chance Checca said.
Colonie (1-1 overall, 1-1 league) required Ballston Spa (2-0, 2-0) to dig deep to prevail as the Garnet Raiders rallied from deficits of 7-1 and 12-5 before pressuring the Scotties again in the seventh.
“What I just told them is we competed. We might have lost this battle, but it will help us win the war down the line,” Colonie coach Kevin Halburian said.
“The key was the two-out base
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hits. We got a key one with Tyler Figueroa hitting a grand slam, but we must have left 12 runners on base. They got the two-out hits and that is the difference.”
“High school baseball is unpredictable. That is all I can say,” Ballston Spa coach Curtis Nobles said with a smile. “These are games where you find out how much mental toughness you have.”
“It is a mindset with how you are going to play. Every game is going to be a battle,” Checca said. “It is not going to be a blowout every game. It is going to come down to the small stuff that needs to be done.”
Ballston Spa started the game well enough. Keneston, a junior slugger, opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when he clubbed a 3-1 offering from Colonie starting pitcher
Gio Conte high into the trees behind the fence in left.
“With a 3-1 count, I knew I was getting a fastball. I saw it deep and just tried to get the barrel on it,” Keneston said.
“He is a polished hitter,” Nobles said of Keneston.
Checca ended up chasing Conte as he smashed a 1-1 pitch over the fence in left for a grand slam to provide the Scotties a 7-1 advantage in the second inning.
“I could not have done it without the rest of the team. It would not have been a grand slam if they didn’t get on, work the counts and work the pitcher,” Checca said.
“Guys weren’t swinging out of the zone and were very effective in their approach,” Nobles said. “That is what gave us a chance to win that game.”
Ashline helped keep Colonie close as he belted home runs in the second and third innings, the second one a two-run shot that cut the deficit to 7-5.
Ballston Spa starting pitcher Ryan Nagengast helped his own cause with a two-run single to make it 9-5 in the third and Andrew Santabarbara delivered a two-run double in the fifth to extend the lead to 12-5.
But the Garnet Raiders refused to go quietly. Figueroa, a sophomore, highlighted a five-run uprising in the sixth with a grand slam to center with two outs.
Poirier came on to pitch the seventh and walked Colonie first baseman
Jesus Sardo with one out to load the bases. He rebounded and induced Cameron Aery to ground to first baseman Eric Hodnett, who threw home to Keneston for the force play. Ashline then grounded the ball to Checca, who stepped on the bag at second to end the game.
“It was a little heartpumping, but I trusted Joe to get it done,” Checca said.
“He is a senior and does a very good job of being unpredictable.” Nobles said of Poirier. “I wish he would be a little more predictable in throwing first-pitch strikes.”