Christian Brothers Academy’s quest to claim the Section III Class A baseball championship got thwarted, in the championship round, by a hard-hitting opponent wearing red – again.
Only this time, it was Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, and not Jamesville-DeWitt, tripping up the Brothers before it could reach the summit as the state no 3-ranked Red Devils pulled away from CBA and won 11-3 in Tuesday night’s title game at the Onondaga Community College complex.
One year earlier, at NBT Bank Stadium, the Brothers lost the sectional final to J-D, Motivated by that defeat, CBA plowed through a 15-5 regular season, snagged the top seed for the sectional tournament and blew past Marcellus (12-1 and Camden (6-2) to get back to the championship round.
VVS, the no. 3 seed who had beaten Chittenango (15-0), Whitesboro (7-3) and Cortland (11-2), was waiting with a 19-2 record and a potent lineup that had averaged nearly nine runs per game.
The Red Devils sent its undefeated ace, Zack Durant, to the mound, opposing CBA’s Emmett Dunn. The Brothers were without its starting catcher, Camillo Spinoso, who was ejected in the sectional semifinal win over Camden, so Tom Benz took over behind the plate.
Dunn retired the first six batters he faced, and CBA got runners on base in each of the first two innings, but stranded them, Durant striking out side in the bottom of the second.
Things started to get away from Dunn and CBA in the top of the third inning against the bottom of the VVS order. Jason Webb led off with a double, Ryan Palmer singled and Mitch DeBarr reached on an error, bringing home the first run.
Then, with two out, Ben Ziarko, on a full count, took ball four to load the bases and, seconds later, Ryan McNamara drilled a two-run single to make it 3-0.
Given the way Durant was pitching, a three-run deficit was quite daunting for the Brothers. Though he never retired CBA in order, Durant constantly worked out of possible trouble, often with a strikeout as he picked up 10 K’s over the course of six innings.
By far, the game’s biggest play came in the bottom of the fifth. Still trailing 3-0, Sam Little tried to start a two-out rally with a single, and Eric Little came up with the dangerous Webb Little, always a threat to go deep, waiting on deck.
Eric Little sent a Durant delivery deep to left field – but Mitch DeBarr, barely missing a collision with center fielder Davey Moffat, made a tumbling catch to rob Little of a run-scoring extra base hit and end the threat.
Fired up by that play, VVS began to pull away in the top of the sixth, Moffat doubling and scoring on Ryan Palmer’s triple before DeBarr, adding to his highlight reel, singled home Palmer.
Then, as Dunn tired in the top of the seventh, VVS batted around and added six more runs (three of them brought home on Durant’s double) for an 11-0 advantage. Webb Little did get three runs to score in the bottom of the seventh when DeBarr dropped a possible third out, but Benz flew out to DeBarr to end the game.
VVS advances to face Queensbury in the Class A regional playoffs Friday in Albany, while the Brothers ended another strong season just short of the sectional title it wanted.
