Shen finishes off LaSalle, moves on it Class AA Sectionals
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y >> Whether you were rooting for the LaSalle Cadets or Shen Plainsmen Saturday in the Section II Class AA quarterfinal matchup, it would have been really difficult to be disappointed with the effort from either squad.
“Whatever we needed to do to survive, we did,” said Shen Baseball Head Coach Greg Christodulu following Shen’s win Saturday. “We’re just happy to still be in the tournament.”
Shen fended off a LaSalle Institute comeback and finished with a 5-4 win Saturday at Plainsmen Park at Shen High School to continue their way through the Class AA ranks.
“It does show a lot of heart but it’s not a surprise because it’s kind of the way the whole season has been,” said LaSalle Head Coach Jesse Braverman following the comeback effort in the loss. “In an earlier game this year we gave up ten runs in the first inning and won the game, so we have had quite a few games like this. Maybe not against an opponent of this caliber, but it just adds another dimension to this one.”
On the mound for the second
seeded Shen was Brendan Disonell, who pitched the complete game, allowing only one earned run on six hits, and striking out six in the win.
“Brendan is a competitor and he is going to compete,” said Christodulu. “He is going to grind out and throw a couple pitches for strikes, so we were watching his pitch count. Evan Jones and Matt Mariano were getting ready, and we were comfortable with those guys and confident in them. Brendan has a lot of moxie and he relied on that to get him through seven.”
Disonell’s LaSalle counterpart was Jon Weber, who despite one inning, was keeping Shen from touching home. Weber finished with six innings pitched, zero earned runs, and four strikeouts in the loss.
“Jon is a representative of the heart of the team,” said Braverman. “He is a guy that not only his teammates feed off of, but I feed off of. I’m not a young man anymore and they motivate me to have the energy, people like Jon.”
That one inning that Shen was able to get across the dish, was the fourth inning. Starting off with back to back singles from Nick Lemire and Sam Law, Brendan Disonell was able to reach first on a controversial call, scoring a run on the play. After Disonell, Chase Carroll reached first on a bunt and a throwing error, allowing another run to score. After all was said and done in the inning, all five of Shen’s runs were scored.
“We had opportunities throughout that game,” said Christodulu. “That inning was putting some people across the plate. A couple of guys came up with some big hits and bunting the ball and making them field it is always important — I think our hustle and our sprints down to first may have put some pressure on the defense.”
LaSalle’s Braverman saw the very same thing.
“They are a good team at executing the bunt,” said Braverman. “We did not defend it in that inning and that was basically the difference. We did not defend two bunts, and that opened it up.”
Shen had a chance to pour more on in the bottom of the sixth, but a double play fired up LaSalle and more importantly, Weber.
“We got out of it,” said Braverman. “We were still hanging. We just couldn’t get over the mound.”
LaSalle actually kicked the offense off in the top of the third with a single by Weber, who scored Garrett Myers with the hit, giving the Cadets a 1-0 lead early.
LaSalle added to that one run in the top of the fifth with three more runs, making the difference just one.
LaSalle’s Mitchell Rheeman had an RBI single , Weber added an RBI double, and Dermot McDonough with a sac fly RBI.
“To have that rough inning out in the field and then come back into the game is a positive thing for sure,” said Braverman.
Disonell was able to strike out Weber for the final out of the game. A sort of poetic ending to a back and forth battle.
As LaSalle’s season comes to an end, Braverman reflects on the season, and the positivity the team can take away from their performance in the sectional quarterfinal.