Baseball at its best
Whitehall beats Lake George to win the Adirondack title, but bigger goals lie ahead
Whitehall Railroaders beat Lake George for Adirondack League championship.
The expectation for greatness clearly runs throughout the Whitehall baseball roster. It explains why the Railroaders celebrated Monday’s victory like it was the second game of the regular season instead of an Adirondack League title triumph.
“We have plans for bigger things,” Whitehall senior pitcher Danny St. Clair said. “Honestly, I think we kind of expected to win this one.”
The Railroaders responded with three runs in the bottom of the first after Lake George scored once in the top. Unlike when the Warriors rallied from an early deficit to prevail in the semifinals against Granville, Whitehall maintained its lead and registered an impressive 8-3 victory.
“This gives us momentum going into (the Class D) sectionals,” Whitehall catcher David Camara said.
Whitehall (14-2 overall, 12-1 league) steamrolled out to a stellar 11-0 season start during which it outscored opponents 110-8, but back-to-back losses against Bishop Gibbons (10-0) and Lake George (7-6 in 10 innings) threatened to hinder the team’s big-time aspirations. Instead, it appears those setbacks sparked a resurgence.
“In sports, it is all about getting hot at the right time,” Whitehall coach Keith Redmond said. “In basketball, we got hot at the right time. I think we are starting to peak again (in baseball). We peaked earlier, had a little bit of a lull when we didn’t score too many runs and we have started to hit the ball again. We have solid pitching.”
Redmond, the school’s athletic director who also guided the
boys’ basketball team to its first sectional title since 1971 during the winter, understood why his squad was so subdued after defeating Lake George (13-4, 11-2). Whitehall, winner of the 1984 Class C state title, last won a baseball sectional title in 1989.
“This is the first step. They do have big goals,” Redmond said. “They want to win a state championship. Small steps. Don’t get me wrong: this one is very satisfying. They have much bigger things in their sights.”
“This team is a state-level team,” Lake George coach Erik Hoover said of the Railroaders. “I don’t want to jinx them. I want them to represent the Adirondack League well in the states. I hope they win the states. I think they can win it all. They have the pitching and they have the depth.”
Jack Kelleher provided Lake George a 1-0 lead against St. Clair in the top of the first by delivering a one-out RBI double to left to plate Alex Jones. Whitehall responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame, making two errors hurt when Branden Boister produced a two-run single to right with two outs.
“It was big to get it back right away. It helps with confidence working with a lead,” said St. Clair, who worked the first five innings to earn the win.
Still owning a 3-1 advantage in the fifth inning, Whitehall ran into trouble as Clay Moody and Jones each singled with one out. St. Clair (with 10 strikeouts at that point), per Redmond’s instructions, intentionally walked Kelleher to load the bases.
Lake George scored once on an error following the free pass, but St. Clair finished his pitching performance by striking out Cole Clarke and Sean Butkowski to preserve the lead at 3-2.
“Wetookahugeriskby walking Jack Kelleher, but he is the one kid that has beat us all along,” Redmond said. “You have to be respectful of that. We went out there and talked with Danny about that. He had great command of his fastball. We knew he would get out of that jam.”
Ethan Patch produced another clutch two-out hit with a two-run single in the fifth and Camara added a two-run single in the sixth.
“We got some huge two-out hits,” Redmond said. “We have confidence in our one through nine hitters. They all can put the ball in play.”
Senior lefty Evan St. Claire worked the final two innings, allowing an RBI double to Kelleher with two outs in the seventh.