Vince Mercogliano
Greater Westchester Area

Bryam Hills 4, Rye 0

The pitching matchup that all of New York State wanted to see never came to fruition, but defending Class A state champ Byram Hills picked up a crucial 4-0 win over Rye on Tuesday at Disbrow Park. That sets up a winner-takes-all game for a league title when they meet against on Thursday at Byram.

Senior right-hander Frankie Vesuvio (West Virginia recruit) threw a two-hitter with eight strikeouts for the Bobcats, allowing five walks while throwing 61 of 108 pitches for strikes. His fastball sat around 87-89 mph for most of the game and he used his changeup effectively, but he only threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of 28 batters faced.

Many were hoping that Rye would counter with senior right-hander George Kirby (Elon recruit), who previously pitched a complete game on May 4 against Harrison. But the Garnets chose to hold Kirby for Thursday, electing to pitch senior right-hander Ryan Anderson. Anderson pitched six innings on 89 pitches (60 strikes), allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Junior third baseman John Spadafino hit a long two-run homer over the left-field wall with two outs in the first inning to give Byram a 2-0 lead. He finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Vesuvio singled, walked and scored a run.