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By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports
HOOSICK FALLS–In a first round Sectional game between #6 Hoosick Falls and #11 Galway, it seemed as though if your name was Cody, you were having a good game. However, after making Sectionals for the first time in four years, the Galway varsity baseball team was eliminated by the Panthers 6-4. Nick Manna was given the start on the mound and pitched a great game, but couldn’t quite get the support he needed.
Galway got on the board early in the first inning when Cody Marshall lined a one out single into left for the first hit of the game. Then, Marshall advanced to second on a passed ball. Nick Manna lined one down the left field line that was kept in the infield by Cody LaFlamme’s diving stop, but the ball bounded into foul territory, allowing Manna to reach and Marshall to move to third. Then, Frank Schwab lined one into center that was misplayed by Josh Mulready, allowing Marshall to score for the early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom half, Manna managed to work through the inning allowing just one walk, keeping the Golden Eagles ahead 1-0. The second inning would be the last time the Golden Eagles scored a run, but it was a big blow that allowed the runs to score. After a Ron Lewis single and a Tyler Bailey walk, Shane Marshall flew out to center for the second out. Then, the first pitch Cody Marshall saw from Billy Pine was the last of the at-bat. Marshall took one swing and deposited the ball well over the left field fence to put Galway up 4-0. Kyle Collins would follow with a double to left, marking the last extra base hit of the game.
The game stayed 4-0 until the 4th when Hoosick Falls managed to make it a game. After loading the bases with no outs, two sacrifice flies and an RBI single allowed the Panthers to get to within 4-3. Then, the Panthers took advantage of errors in the Galway outfield. Ron Lewis misplayed two fly balls, allowing runners to take second. The Panthers would add two more runs in the fifth when Randy Tutunjian singled to plate the tying run, and Cody Gaines followed with another RBI single, allowing the Panthers to take a 5-4 lead. The Panthers would add one more run in the bottom of the sixth to end the scoring. Cody LaFlamme came on for five innings of relief and didn’t allow a run.
Although he pitched a great game, the loss was handed to Nick Manna, who allowed just two earned runs on the day. The Golden Eagles were tabbed with three errors compared to the Panthers one. Cody Marshall and Kyle Collins had the only extra base hits of the game for both teams.
As a result, the 2012 baseball season has come to an end for the Golden Eagles. They finished with an overall record of 9-8 and 8-5 in the WAC. Meanwhile, Hoosick Falls moves on to play #3 Fort Plain at Phillips Field on Thursday. The two teams met just a few weeks ago in the Fort Plain Tournament, where the Hilltoppers defeated the Panthers 4-2.
On a side note, four Golden Eagles were named to all-star teams. Shane Marshall was named the WAC’s catching all-star for the first team. Kyle Collins was named the WAC’s Co-MVP with Joe Horning of Canajoharie. Cody Marshall and Nick Manna were named to the second team. Marshall was named as a utility infielder and Manna was named as a first baseman.
Big Kahuna • May 23, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Was a tough loss yesterday but no one on this team should allow their season to be defined by a couple of bad innings. Considering Galway was missing a key player (Adam Berlin), and another key player played but had an injured quad and broken finger (Kyle Collins) everyone should feel good about how they played yesterday and the season overall. Having four Galway players make all-stars this year (and having one of them walk away with a league MVP award) in a Conference dominated by Spa Catholic, Ft. Plain, Schoharie and Berne Knox players is no small feat. I attended every game this year and can say every person on the team has at least a few bright moments to look back on and feel a sense of accomplishment.
Going by the batting order:
1. Shane Marshall – Was a beast behind the plate and limited stolen base attempts by the competition and more often than not made them pay when they did try to steal a base. Was a solid lead off hitter and batted .333 with an on base percentage of .457. Lead team in home runs (1).
2. Adam Berlin – Had a 3-3 pitching record and recorded 32k’s in 30 innings pitched. Batted .351 with an on base percentage of .471. Lead team in runs scored (26).
3. Kyle Collins – Had a 3-0 pitching record and a team low 1.84 ERA. Batted .614 (ranked #10 all-time in the NYS Public High School Athletic Association Rcored Book) and had an OBP of .661. Lead team in batting average; OBP; hits (35); runs scored (26); doubles (9); triples (1); stolen bases (25).
4. Nick Manna – Had a 1-2 pitching record but his record is no indication of how well he pitched all season. Recorded 33k’s in 30-1/2 innings pitched and had a ERA of 4.62. Ranked 2nd on team by batting .434 with an OBP of .516. Lead team in RBI’s (26).
5. Cody Marshall – Had a 1-1 pitching record with an ERA of 4.81. Pitched a great game against Northville with 7 innings of relief work after the starter was pulled after facing 5 batters. Batted .364 with an OBP of .435. Lead team in sacrifices (4). Played 5 different positions during the course of the season.
6. Evan Ceroala – Had a 1-1 pitching record with an ERA of 4.40. Came up huge in relief in Spa Catholic game. Batted .216 with an OBP of .286. Played sound defense at 1st, 2nd and 3rd base.
7. Frank Schwab – Batted .238 with an OBP of .429. Lead team in walks (14). Made some nice plays in the outfield during the course of the season.
8. Paul Wojcik – Batted .143 but his on base percentage jumps up to .286. Paul came up with a couple of big hits that either tied or put Galway in the lead during two games this past season.
9. Tyler Bailey – Batted .125 with an on base percentage of .222. Played solid defense at left all season and robbed the competition of more than a few extra base hits.
10. Ron Lewis – Batted .160 with an OBP of .192. Got a couple of key hits that prolonged rallies that help secure victories for the team. Also made a stand-out defensive play on a ball hit to deep center that Ron managed to track down and catch in full sprint.
11. Ben Manna – Only got in two games but played solid defense at 3rd base when he was called into action. As a JV player he still managed to record his first hit as a Varsity player against Sharon Springs.