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Class C Tournament Recaps

June 15, 2016

Joe Mags
New York, Staff

BINGHAMTON — Danny Capra tossed a complete-game shutout for North Salem baseball in the New York State semifinals, and the Tigers lineup took a sizeable lead over Avon in the Class C final on Saturday, eventually securing the state title 11-8 at Conlon Field.

North Salem (20-6) of Section 1 won its first-ever state title behind 21 runs and 20 hits combined in both games. Capra, who’s committed to play for Rochester Institute of Technology next year, went 6-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBI. Adam Concadoro was electric at shortstop, and scored five runs on the day.

Connor Mahoney, J.B. Healy and Phil Foglia — all set to return to the Tigers, and including Concadoro — each had multiple RBIs. All nine starters reached base safely in either game.

CAPRA SHUTS DOWN CAVALIERS IN ROUT

Capra had four different pitches working — spotting his fastball, throwing his breaking ball and changeup for strikes, and working in a devastating two-seamer that the Cavaliers (21-4) could not figure out in the 10-0 victory.

Immaculate Heart Central of Section 3 had outscored its four sectional opponents 43-14 before shutting out No. 1 ranked Tioga of Section 4 in the regional championship behind the arm of Will Magovney. Against Capra, however, the Cavaliers could only generate three hits.

Vincenzo Alteri reached base on an infield single in the top of the first, but Capra retired him on a pickoff attempt and the IHC inning crumbled. Alteri and Joshua Navarra reached base on back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth, but Capra retired Magovney on a fly ball to end the inning.

Capra struck out nine while walking two and allowing just three hits. The Cavaliers never advanced past second base.

CONCADORO RUNS UP SCORE FOR TIGERS

A speedy junior, Concadoro reached base in all five at-bats for the Tigers, scoring three of the team’s first six runs.

Leading off the bottom of the first, Concadoro drove a 2-2 pitch into center field, bounding off the Cavalier fielder’s glove and putting Concadoro on second. He scored easily on Mahoney’s bunt, which was thrown into the foul territory in right field by the catcher, crossing the plate before the ball was returned to the infield.

In the second inning, Concadoro tripled into right-center field, beating out the throw to third by cutoff Alteri after closing a near 40-foot gap on the release of the ball. Concadoro walked in the fourth, scoring standing up from second base on a bloop single by Capra. Concadoro added two singles in the closing innings.

AVON’S GINGHER GRITS TEETH IN SEMIFINALS, OUT OF GAS IN FINAL

Senior Brandon Gingher left it all on the field for Avon, throwing seven quality innings in a 5-1 victory over Greenwich, and coming back out 90 minutes later to start the Class C final.

A hard-throwing right hander, Gingher went the distance in the afternoon game, striking out nine and giving up just four hits. After his lineup delivered a 4-1 lead in the third, Gingher got three consecutive strikeouts against the 9-1-2 hitters to end the fourth and pick up the first two outs of the fifth inning.

Gingher returning to the hill was a roll of the dice for Avon, considering the max any one pitcher can throw on a single day is 12 innings, and North Salem put pressure on the Braves by working counts against Gingher immediately. Concadoro made Gingher throw 10 pitches before accepting a base on balls to open the game, and Gingher needed 38 pitches to get out of the first two innings unscathed.

He wasn’t so lucky in the third. By that point, Gingher’s back leg was coming up early on every pitch. Routine defensive plays like charging a bunt seemed challenging, as Gingher barely got off the hill in time to put out Mahoney on a sacrifice roller to the mound.

The Tigers batted around in the third, scoring six runs after Gingher put on the first four batters of the innings (single, three walks). John Ceneviva and Maxx Countryman both entered in relief during the inning, and Bryce Read took over midway through the fourth, as North Salem climbed to a 11-1 lead after five.

Foglia blew the game open with a 2-RBI single in the third, and he later scored after stealing third base and forcing a throwing error, putting the Tigers ahead 6-1. Healy knocked a ball into right field in the fourth to score Capra, and he eventually came home to make it 9-1.

BRAVES NEAR COMEBACK IN SIXTH

Avon’s pitching did the team in against North Salem, but the Braves’ lineup made a commendable push in the penultimate inning of the Class C final.

The run began in the fifth when Countryman scored Mahoney on a single, and Gingher and Owen Read brought him around to cut slightly into the Tigers’ 11-3 lead.

The Braves scored a pair of inconspicuous runs early in the sixth, but with two outs and runners on the corners, Spencer Arnold hit a line drive down the right field line, scoring Zack Loomis and Pete Taylor. Down 11-6, Countryman doubled to left field, scoring Arnold.

Mahoney had thrown 5 ⅔ innings for the Tigers, but the left-hander had gone as far as he could. Healy closed the sixth, but not before Countryman scored on a single by Gingher to make it 11-8. Healy picked up the unlikely save in the seventh in a painless inning to secure the state title.

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