Brilliant sunshine and summer like temperatures set the stage at Indian River High School this afternoon as the Warriors of Whitesboro (8-6, 13-7) and the Warriors of Indian river (6-4, 9-11) met in the opening round of the Section III, Class A Baseball tournament.
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Ryan Watson, a big junior righthander who has earned the distinction of work horse of the Whitesboro pitching staff this season, faced off against Indian River's ace, Jarrod Mattingly in a loser go home battle of Section III ball clubs, with the winner travelling to #1 seed CBA on Thursday.
(Indian River senior Jarrod Mattingly delivers a pitch.)
The Tri-Valley East champs got on the board quickly in the opening frame, when leadoff batter Dan Russo drew a 4 pitch walk, followed by a long double by Mike Sullivan to put runners at second and third with nobody out.
With one out, Ryan Watson was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Connor Passalaqua. Indian River catcher Zane Fish attempted to pick off Watson at first, but his throw sailed into right field and allowed Russo and Sullivan to scamper home, putting the visitors up 2-0, which is the way the top half of the first would come to a close.
Watson was nearly flawless in the home half of the first. After walking leadoff batter Jarrod Mattingly, Whitesboro catcher Dylan Gorski gunned the speedy senior out trying to steal second for the first out. Watson then set down the next two Warriors on strikes to end the inning.
After Whitesboro went quietly in the visitor's half of the second, Indian River made it 2-1 when Lucas Golden and Dan Lies reached on consecutive walks.
Watson's attemped pick off of Lies got past Whitesboro first baseman Connor Passalaqua and went into right field, allowing Golden to score from second, pulling Indian River to within one. Watson then got Alex Horton to fly out and struck out Logan Sargent to end the inning with Whitesboro on top 2-1.
Whitesboro got things going again in the bottom of the second when Mike Sullivan led off with a long double to the fence in right field. Brendan Heitz's SAC bunt moved Sullivan to third with one out. Ryan Watson helped his own cause with a shot to right center that was ruled a ground rule double, scoring Sullivan to make it 3-1 Whitesboro.
(Mike Sullivan (7) takes the throw from Dylan Gorski and tags out Indian River's Jarrod Mattingly (6) in first inning action. )
Dave Abdoo's two out ground ball was mishandled by Indian River shortstop Dan Lies, which allowed Watson to score from second, giving Whitesboro a 4-1 advantage after two and one half innings.
Waston got the first two Indian River hitters out on four pitches in the bottom half of the third, before Indian River got a little two out magic going.
A two out walk to Zane Fish set the table for 6'2" 215 lb. cleanup hitter Jordan Hunneyman, who promptly got a ball up into the right field jet stream for a 2 run home run, pulling Indian River to within 4-3, which is the way we'd go to the fourth inning.
Despite a single by Adam Pexton and a double by Mike Sullivan, the Warriors couldn't plate a run in their half of the fourth, largely due to some nifty infield work by the home Warriors. Leaving two runners on base in the 4th would come back to haunt Whitesboro, when Indian River came to bat in their half of the inning.
Lucas Golden laced a leadoff ground rule double to start Indian River off in the bottom of the fourth. Golden quickly stole second base and then went to third on a wild pitch.
(Whitesboro's Dan Russo (8) connects on a huge seventh inning single.)
With Whitesboro's infield drawn in, Indian River executed a perfect safety hit and run when Dan Lies chopped a grounder to second base, as Golden raced home as soon as the ball hit the ground to tie the game at 4-4.
Alex Horton then reached on an error to put runners at first and second with just one out. Logan Sargent's missed squeeze bunt resulted in an inning ending double play when Lies was caught in a run down at third.
Whitesboro went quietly in the top of the 5th, but the home club tacked on two runs of their own when Mattingly drew a one out walk, and then advanced to second when Zane Fish's grounder up the middle hit the field umpire, causing a dead ball situation and giving Indian River runners at first and second with nobody out.
Jordan Hunneyman came through again with an RBI single to left, scoring Mattingly to make it 5-4. Mike Bombard's fielder's choice to shortstop then scored Fish from third to make it 6-4, which is the way we'd go to the top of the sixth.
Whitesboro got some magic of their own going in the sixth when Alec Brindisi led things off with a jet streamer to right center field for a leadoff ground rule double.
(Whitesboro's Adam Pexton (16) breaks up a double play attempt by Indian River second baseman Logan Sargent (8) during third inning play.)
Following a strikeout by Devin Lebuis, Dan Russo drew a one out walk and Mike Sullivan was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brendan Heitz's infield ground ball scored Brindisi to pull Whitesboro within 6-5.
Ryan Watson then stepped in and knocked a grounder to short, which was mishandled by shortstop Dan Lies, allowing Russo and Sullivan to come around to score, giving Whitesboro a 7-6 lead after five and a half innings.
Indian River swung the pendulum in their favor in the bottom of the sixth when Lies drew a leadoff walk. That would be all for Ryan Watson who gave his usual heart out of his chest effort for his team.
The crafty left hander Matt Engler took over on the hill and quickly struck out Alex Horton for the first out. A stolen base by Dan Lies and a single by Logan Sargent put runners at first and third with one away.
(Matt Engler (18) hurls in relief of Ryan Watson in the 6th.)
A dropped third strike to Mike Everett caused Whitesboro catcher Dylan Gorski to fire to third for the second out, but in doing so, Indian River third base coach Matt Armes alertly sent Lies in to score to tie the game at 7-7 with two out.
A single off the bat of Mattingly scored Sargent to make it 8-7 Indian River and another an infield error allowed Zane Fish to reach first, scoring Everett and Mattingly to give Indian River a 10-7 lead heading to the top half of the 7th.
The Whitesboro Warriors pooled their talent and pulled together despite much adversity when they were down to their last three outs.
Connor Passalaqua's leadoff single got it started, and brought the visiting Warriors fans to their feet. A strikeout by Dave Abdoo and a sharp fly ball out out by Dylan Gorski quickly brought the Warriors to within one out of defeat. Just then, Matt Engler capped a 9 pitch at bat with a two out single to right, giving the Warriors life. Dan Cecilia was called to pinch hit for Devin LeBuis and the junior catcher delivered a well placed fly ball down the right field line for a double, scoring Passalaqua and Engler to make it 10-9.
Dan Russo then laced a ball into left center field which advanced Robert Kelly, who pinch ran for Cecilia, to third base.
After a long at bat, Mike Sullivan then grounded sharply to second, but Indian River freshman Justin Mattingly couldn't make the play and Kelly scored from third to tie the game at 10-10.
With runners at the corners and two away, Brendan Heitz drew a two out walk to load the bases for Watson, who delivered a knife in the heart single, scoring Russo and Sullivan to give Whitesboro a dramatic 12-10 lead, which is the way we'd head to the bottom of the seventh.
Whitesboro head coach Bill Decoursey called on his senior ace, MJ Hajec to come in and close this one out.
All that was missing was Metallica's "Enter Sandman" when Hajec took the mound and the trusted righty didn't disappoint, getting Indian River 1-2-3, preserving the win for Whitesboro, the #9 seed, who advances to play at top seeded Christian Brothers Academy (18-2) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Indian River ends its season at (9-12) overall.
Mike Sullivan led Whitesboro at the plate today, going 3 for 5 with a single, two doubles, 3 runs 2 RBI, 3 runs scored and a stolen base. Ryan Watson went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored as well.
Whitesboro 12 Indian River 10
Box Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Whitesboro 2 0 2 0 0 3 5 12 13 3
Indian River 0 1 2 1 0 4 0 10 8 5
