Charlie Karstedt
Assistant, New York

GAME RECAP

Friday May 20, 2016
Kenmore East 8 vs. Starpoint 1

Kenmore East made the trip up to Starpoint on a beautiful Friday evening for the opening round of the Section 6 playoffs. Starpoint a clear favorite with a strong lineup led by Senior backstop and NCCC commit Matt Cross as well as senior Ben Walters and some talented juniors in Austin Meenaghan and Joe Chenez. Kenmore East pulled off the big upset for only their 6th win of their season.

The pitching matchup was 2017 RHP Dylan Creasey (Kenmore East) against 2017 RHP Joey Chenez (Starpoint). East didn’t waste any time getting on the board as Smyth, Ruggierio, and Leith had 3 hits in a row before being driven in on a 2 RBI single by Sophomore standout Jamel Cash. After 1 Kenmore had a 4-0 lead. That was all Creasey would need for the rest of the night. The 6-foot, 185-pound junior held a no hitter through 4 ⅔ innings. With a FB sitting 78-80 through 7 innings, a tight breaking ball at 66 and a well located changeup at 71 he was able to keep some strong Starpoint bats at bay all evening. In the 4th inning East pulled away with the game when senior Dylan Leith got on with an error, Jamel Cash hit a line drive single and then was driven in by Junior Dominic Germano on an RBI double. Starpoint junior, Joe Chenez, tried to help his cause at the plate when he drove a deep RBI double in the bottom of 4 to break up the no-no but in the end was not enough.

Kenmore East takes on Amherst this week in their second round playoff game. Their pitching will certainly be put to the test as the Tigers bats have been hot as of late. Congratulations on behalf of the PBR staff to the Starpoint Spartans on a great season finishing 8-4 in the league. Best of luck to former NY Games (Niagara Region) Catcher Matt Cross as he enters his freshman year of college baseball next year with the JUCO World Series bound Coach Clingersmith and NCCC.

GAME RECAP
Saturday May 21, 2016
Canisius 9 St. Mary’s 0

In the opening game of the Georgetown Cup semi-finals the Crusaders took on the Lancers of St. Mary’s. Senior LHP, Monmouth commit and MLB prospect on the rise Dan Dallas took the mound for Canisius. Unbeaten and virtually unhittable all year Dallas dominated through 6 innings with 12 K’s sitting 89-92 early with a 75 mph hard biting curve ball and a 78 mph changeup. Dallas has had the luxury of a strong offensive lineup behind him all year to give him any run support he may need. This day was no different.

In the the first after Dallas retired 3 with 2 strikeouts the Crusaders drew a few walks and Senior Michael Gabriele (Niagara U) came through with a 2 RBI single to spark things early. In the top of the 3rd Dallas struck out 3 in a row with some 90+mph fastballs.  In the bottom half, some of the Canisius big bats came through as they have all year. Senior Vinny Chiarenza (Mercyhurst U) had an RBI single followed by junior William Lawrence with a 2 RBI single of his own. Canisius capped off the offensive day later on when Russ Mistretta (Mercyhurst U) and Jordan Kowalski (Monroe CC) each had doubles in an inning while Dallas hit a long SAC fly of his own to put 3 more runs on the board and seal the win for the unbeaten Crusaders.

The Crusaders followed up the next day with another win to put them into the Georgetown Cup finals as senior RHP Nate Mascellino (Niagara U) put up another dominant performance.  Senior OF Andrew Vincent had a big day at the plate with 3 hits. Other offensive standouts were Michael Mazzara, Will Lawrence, Mike Gabriel, and Jordan Kowalski.  The Crusaders won 14-0 and showed why they’ve stayed unbeaten all year. Not only do they have a dominant pitching staff that allows virtually nothing to cross the plate but they also have a strong hitting lineup 1-9 with little weakness to exploit. They’ll take on the winner of St. Francis vs. St. Joe’s who play their rubber match of the best of 3 series today.

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