By Cody Marshall-Sultan of Sports

FORT PLAIN–Needing just one win to clinch a Sectional berth for the first time since 2008, the Galway varsity baseball team traveled to Fort Plain on Monday to try to seal the deal against the Hilltoppers. Fort Plain entered the contest at 7-0 in the WAC North and the current leaders. Adam Berlin was given the start on the mound for Galway, while 5-0 Chris Hanifin started for the Hilltoppers.

Galway got on the board early in the first inning when Shane Marshall reached on an error by Marcus Failing, then stole second and advanced to 3rd on a groundout by Kyle Collins. Then, Nick Manna ripped an RBI double to left to put the Golden Eagles up 1-0. Then, Cody Marshall singled to left, and looked to have an RBI, but Nick Manna was ruled out at home, a call that Manna disagreed with. However, the lead would not hold and it was all Fort Plain for the next 6.5 innings. With one out, a high pop up landed just fair after being misplayed by third baseman Evan Ceroalo. Then, a bloop single by Harold Dettmer put two runners on for Dakota Nemechek, who roped a 2 RBI double to center, putting the Hilltoppers up 2-1. From there, the Hilltoppers tacked  on in every single inning except for the 6th, with the biggest blow being Harold Dettmer’s 3-run home run off of Evan Ceroalo in the 5th inning.

Galway managed to have just 5 hits on the day. Nick Manna, Cody Marshall, Evan Ceroalo, Kyle Collins, and Frank Schwab were responsible for those. The loss was charged to Adam Berlin (2-3), while Chris Hanifin improves to 6-0 on the year. The loss drops the Golden Eagles to 6-4 in the WAC and 7-6 overall. The Golden Eagles are back on the diamond Wednesday when they travel to St. Johnsville, where the Golden Eagles will look to pick up that final win that they need for Sectionals. Currently, the Golden Eagles are 3rd in the WAC North, three games behind the Hilltoppers for first and just half a game ahead of St. Johnsville.