No.2 Fox Lane, No.3 Mahopac Sitting Pretty in Class AA

By Ray Gallagher Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

Here are some of the things that are tough to ignore about the Section 1 baseball circuit at the midway point of the 2024 campaign: First and foremost Class AA is stacked with Examiner-area teams looking to stake their claim, including current No.2 FOX LANE, No.3 MAHOPAC, No.10 BREWSTER and No.11 YORKTOWN and No.9 SOMERS… not to mention No.14 GREELEY and No.15 CARMEL, who need to get their rear in gear as they playoff seeds emerge and the specter of the one-and-done syndrome looms for one and all.

Baseball, more than any other sport, is dictated by one thing: who’s toeing the rubber, so on any given day a 16-seed can bust up a bracket and send No.1 packing, which we’ve seen before, and Class AA could see some major surprises when push comes to who’s actually shoving.

Fox Lane’s 4-2 win over perennial power Mamaroneck further advances the notion that Coach Matt Hillis’ Foxes (8-3) are in it to win it this spring. However, a 10-9 loss to Clarkstown South was a quick reminder that nothing is given in this game despite home runs by PJ Stonsby and Logan Mammola.

Against Mamo, Fox ace Tyler Renz chucked 6 ⅓ innings, whiffing nine on just four hits for the win. Logan Maston and Mammola each doubled and had two hits while John Czernyk mashed three hits, including a huge RBI single. Cooper Furst and Brad Patterson added RBI singles for the Foxes, who are playing a typical disciplined brand of Fox Lane ball.

“Yeah, baseball is unlike any other sport as every game is a toss up and can go either way,” Fox IF John Czernyk said. “The Mamo win was huge as some of our guys are getting into a groove and it’s always a good feeling to beat a good team. The loss (to South) hurt, we knew we couldn’t let off the gas pedal and we had to stick to our approach of being aggressive on any ball your way and at the plate. Our coaches even pulled us aside after we put up a four-spot to warn us of that exact thing, and it’s hard to win a game with seven errors. But we only lost by one with all the mistakes, so it shows we can compete no matter what.”

The Foxes are about to embark on a tough slate of games, including White Plains, two with rival Greeley and John Jay EF before wrapping up the regular season with RCK.

“We have the toughest week of the year coming up and we’re looking to walk out at least 3-2, so we can come into the playoffs with a 1 or 2 next to our name and win this section.”

Mahopac could not hold up in a 9-0 loss to reigning NYS Class AA champion RCK, but the Wolf Pac (9-3) bounced back nicely in a 8-0 win over Brewster as the two teams raised funds in the “Zach Attack” Strikeout Childhood Cancer game, which is far more important than any game result. The two Putnam County-based programs will continue this fine cause annually for the foreseeable future.

Mahopac went 4-1, playing five games in six days. Coach Anthony Nappi is pleased with the youthful Wolf Pac’s poise to this point.

“When you look back on a week like we just had, you could say going 4-1 was a great accomplishment, I don’t argue that,” said second-year Wolf Pac boss Nappi, who won a sectional title with Somers in 2022. “Ultimately, in the beginning of the week we were a little sloppy, this play kind of spilled into the Ketcham game and we paid for it, losing 9-0. After that loss I think we looked in the mirror a little and said the result of a win or a loss isn’t always our goal. We want our goal to be the standard of playing to our expectations, and I think we’re on our way to accomplishing that.”

Mahopac has as many as 4-5 sophomores in the starting lineup, so this club could make some noise in coming years, if not this year.

Mahopac mashed rival Carmel, 12-2, behind dingers from DJ DeMatteo (2-4, 3 RBI), Drew Lichtenberger RBI) and Tyler DeBrocky (2-4, 3 RBI).

Yorktown also felt the wrath of RCK in a 9-5 loss despite the efforts of Alex Ornstein (3 for 4) and Brian White (2 for 4, RBI). Earlier in the week, the Huskers defeated John Jay, 9-8, in nine innings. AJ Solla stroked the walk-off single to right field for the Huskers while Joe Carucci went 4 for 4 with  three RBI to support reliever Luca Masillo, who came on in the ninth for the win. But Yorktown could not sustain the momentum and lost the other end of the home-and-home with John Jay CR, 4-3, wasting a solid outing from P Ryan Dinapoli (6IP, 2ER 7K). White had a pair of doubles and Jeffrey Nunez knocked a pinch-hit dinger in the loss.

Yorktown opened the week in a 7-6 loss to Mahopac when Mahopac P/SS Tyler Castrataro went yard in the seventh to cap the come-from-behind win.

Cole Haddock (1-3, 3RBI) and White (2-4) spotted the Huskers (6-7) a lead, but the Wolf Pac, a gritty bunch, battled and celebrated a hearty win at Granite Knolls in Yorktown, which have lost six of the last eight.

BYRAM HILLS had a solid week going 3-0-1, beating BREWSTER 8-6 and tying the Bears 3-3 before romping Riverside, 18-5, and nipping Eastchester, 3-2, behind P Dylan Ettinger (6 IP, 3 hits 2 ER). Jordan Daly (1-2) had  two RBI. The Bobcats (6-7-1) turned things around in a pivotal week and have a handful of winnable games upcoming against Put Valley, Greeley and a pair with SOMERS. The Tuskers (5-5) were crushed 16-0 by Arlington but bounced back in a 10-1 win over visiting HEN HUD.

CLASS A

Don’t look now but reigning Section 1 Class A champion WALTER PANAS sits at the No.2 seed with an 8-3 record, including a win over Eastchester and a dominant sweep of neighboring HEN HUD (9-1 and 4-1), the current No.10 seed. Coach Anthony Fata’s Panthers (8-3) haven’t skipped much of a beat this season despite losing three D-I players and one MLB draftee. The Panthers remain the team to beat but perennial Rockland power Tappan Zee, an 8-7 winner over LAKELAND Friday, sits atop the standings, having won five of the last six.

Panas posted a 3-2 win over Eastchester when Dean Sewall went 2 for 3 with two RBI. Lakeland fell to 4-7 on the season, down to No.13 in the current seeds, one behind No.12  BYRAM HILLS (6-7-1) and two behind No.11 Hen Hud (7-8).

In Lakeland’s 11-0 win over Sleepy Hollow, Hornet pitchers Ramzi Done (3 IP, W, 6 K), Vinny Fusco (1IP) and Joe Serrano (1IP) combined on a five-inning no-hitter while Logan Crilly (2-3, home run, double, 3 runs, 2 RBI), Sergio Hormazabal (2 RBI) and Anthony Sabatello (2-2, double, 2 runs, 2 RBI) all mashed.

Class AAA WHITE PLAINS was one of three examiner-area teams competing in the Harrison Tournament over the weekend when the Tigers suffered a disappointing third-place finish after beating Class B VALHALLA in the consy round. White Plains P Nick Portanova (6 IP, 0 earned runs, 2 hits allowed, 6 K) got the win and offensive support from Tyler Older (2 for 3, 4 RBI) as the Tigers improved to 6-6 overall, 5-5 as the No.6 seed in AAA.

The current No.1-seeded Class AA host Huskies held off Class B WESTLAKE, 3-1, to take the Dave Basso Memorial Tournament title after beating White Plains, 8-3, in the opening round. It was a solid showing from the Wildcats (3-7) against some stiff competition. The Vikings fell to 5-8-1 after losing four of the last five.

Class AAA OSSINING is getting a great season from Michael Lebenson, who won the Coach Casey Attitude and Effort Game MVP Award in the Pride’s 7-6 win over CROTON-HARMON. Ossining, which needs to find some consistency, improved to 5-5-1 with the win. Croton, on the other hand, is moving and grooving at 12-3 in Class B.

An angry Tiger team traveled to HALDANE fresh off the loss to Briarcliff the day before. P Spencer Heath, usually a reliever for the Tigers, secured his first career start and win when the Tigers spotted him a 15-run top of the first inning of an eventual 25-1 win over the Blue Devils (4-7). Heath pitched 4 2/3rds, not allowing a run and only giving up one hit. He has now pitched 15.1 innings without allowing an earned run to start the season.

Croton’s win streak ended at six after a 7-5 walk-off loss to Briarcliff, which got a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh from Jon Iwai. The Bears improved to 7-7 last week.

Croton’s Mekhi Smithwick got the start and went 5IP, striking out eight and allowing four runs on three hits.

“Briarcliff did not have many hits but when they did they made them count,” Croton Coach Eric Rosen said. “Mekhi pitched really well but he made a couple mistakes and Briarcliff capitalized on them.”

Briarcliff scored two in the first inning on a triple and inside the park home run from James Mulligan.

Croton came right back to tie it up on an Aidan Callahan RBI single and a Korey DeBeer RBI double. Briarcliff went up two runs again by taking advantage of a mistake.

“Mekhi was up in the count 0-2 and missed his spot,” Rosen said.

Bears C Xander D’onofrio made him pay, putting a good swing on the mistake for a two-run home run.

Croton got one back in the next inning as Smithwick scored on a two-out base hit from Max Fredman, who has been red hot lately, going 2-3 at the plate while raising his average well over 300.

“Max could have been 3-3 but the Briarcliff left fielder (Golovsenko) made several spectacular plays out there robbing us of hits,” Rosen said. “Briarcliff played a near perfect game. Their defense was fantastic. “

Briarcliff added a 13-5 win over Class B Westlake (3-7) when P Golovcsenko (6 IP, 2 ER, 5 K and 2 RBI) spun a gem.

Class B PLEASANTVILLE is now 9-3, rejecting a slow 0-3 start to emerge as the current No.4 seed, behind No.1 Magnus, No.2 Croton and No.3 Rye Neck. The Panthers made short work of Valhalla in a 13-6 P’Ville win when Supranowitz (2-run HR), Jack Van Sise (2- run HR) and C. Bateman (3- run HR) all went yard. In Pleasantville’s 25-5 rout of Pawling, Van Sise had a career day, going 6 for 6 with a double, six RBI and four runs.

The Panthers will surely be tested this week with a home-and-home set against Rye Neck, the current No.3 in Class B.

PUTNAM VALLEY (6-4-1) took a pair from North Salem and awaits its second signature win since beating Blind Brook on April 1. In the Tigers’ 6-3 win over North Salem, P Dom Benedetto (5 IP, 1 earned run and 5 hits allowed) whiffed 12 while walking only one and watched OF Ricky Meister (three RBI, run) do damage at the dish. PV has a tough stretch upcoming that will tell us all we need to know about the Tigers with two against rival Haldane, two against Croton and one against Byram Hills. If the Tigers can go 3-2 in that stretch we’ll be sold on their chances of at least competing in the Class B postseason.

Examiner-area baseball coaches are encouraged to email raygallaghersports@gmail.com or tag @Directrays on X with results, stats and comments.

 

ANDY JACOBS/DAVID TABER/TONY HUMBERTO/CHRIS SMAJLAJ/GIL McMAHON PHOTOS