CENTRAL NEW YORK – Given all that it had done so well this spring and the way 2023 ended one win short of a title, only a Section III Class C championship would satisfy the Bishop Ludden baseball team.
But a single inning upended the Gaelic Knights’ ambitions.
What looked like a cruise past Mount Markham in last Saturday’s sectional semifinal at Utica’s Murnane Field turned, in a flash, to a stunning 3-2 defeat and consternation about what went wrong.
Nothing in what took place in the 21-plus games leading up to this hinted at the turnaround that would take place late at the expense of Ludden pitcher Mike Masterpole.
For five innings, Masterpole did not allow a hit, and the only reason it stayed 0-0 was because Mustangs pitcher Wyatt Young equaled those zeroes on the scoreboard through the early going.\
When, in the bottom of the fifth, Joe Dunham’s single scored Parker Pichoske and Andrew Pullano, the Gaelic Knights led 2-0, needing six more outs to reach the final.
Instead, in the top of the sixth Mount Markham answered. Jamison Young reached base, stole second and scored when Young tripled to the wall. Nate Pcola followed with a game-tying single that plated Young, and after Owen Jones walked, Logan Plows’ RBI single put the Mustangs in front.
Through the sixth and seventh innings, Ludden tried to answer, but Young, who struck out seven, kept the Gaelic Knights’ quiet and advanced his side to a title game against Pulaski. Ludden had just six hits, two of them by Dunham.
Before all this, Ludden, who blanked Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 10-0 in the opening round, kept it up May 23 with a 7-1 win over no. 8 seed LaFayette in the quarterfinals.
Having beat the Lancers twice in the regular season, the Gaelic Knights found the third encounter the most difficult, LaFayette erasing a 1-0 deficit with a run in the top of the fifth.
Immediately answering, Ludden broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the fifth, led by Jimmy Westers, who finished with a single, double and three RBIs. Pichoske had two hits and scored twice as he joined Greg Purdy in the RBI column.
That cushion was more than enough for Dunham, who walked three and gave up four hits, but amassed 13 strikeouts, little imagining he would pitch in Ludden’s last win of the season.
The journey also ended for Westhill in the sectional Class A semifnals on May 25 as it lost its sectional semifinal 12-6 to top seed and defending champion Jamesville-DeWitt.
The Warriors appeared to get off to a perfect start with four runs in the top of the first, capped by Luke Pickett’s two-run double, but J-D answered with three runs in the bottom of the first and tied it, 4-4, two innings later.
Then the Red Rams chased starter Mike Madigan in the bottom of the fourth amid a four-run rally. Westhlil cut it to 8-6 in the top of the fifth, but four more runs by the Rams in the bottom of the fifth all but sealed the outcome.
Just to get this far, the Warriors, in the May 23 sectional quarterfinal against no. 5 seed Cortland, scored early and let pitcher Ryan Campbell do the rest in a 4-0 shutout of the Purple Tigers.
Two runs in the bottom of the first off Zach Muir got Westhill in front, with two more runs to follow in the fourth. Only Campbell picked up a pair of hits as Madigan, Dom Zawadzki, T.J. Pichoske and Eric Holstein all crossed the plate.
Campbell didn’t need much help, though. From start to finish, he baffled Cortland’s batters, limiting them to five hits and walking two while striking out seven.
Each of Westhill’s OHSL Liberty division rivals were ousted before the semifinal round, including Marcellus, who got to the Class B quarterfinals but fell 12-4 to Phoenix.
In a game delayed by weather and not finished until May 23, the no. 10 seed Mustangs had beat no. 7 seed Adirondack 7-2 in the round of 16, getting all of its runs the day before (including a four-run fourth) and leading 7-0 when rain and lightning forced the end to the next day in Phoenix.
Once that was completed, the Mustangs immediately turned around and faced the Firebirds, who were well-rested and immediately went in front with three first-inning runs.
More would follow as, after Marcellus cut it to 3-2, Phoenix scored twice in the third and five times in the fourth to get away, led by Donovan Manley’s three RBIs as pitcher Ty Corey went 6 2/3 innings, giving up 10 hits but striking out 13. The Mustangs’ season ended with a 7-13 record.
Jordan-Elbridge had pulled off the biggest upset of the sectional playoffs May 21 when, as a no. 16 seed, it stunned top seed Holland Patent 2-0, and the Eagles nearly went further.
In a high-scoring May 23 quarterfinal, the Eagles fell to no. 8 seed Little Falls 11-10, ending a 5-13 campaign as the Mounties then knocked out Clinton to reach the title game against Lowville, who beat Phoenix.
