Out of the frying pan, and into the fire.
Three weeks after the South Colonie 15-year-old All-Stars beat Bethlehem twice in one day to win the eastern New York title, they get to play arguably the top two teams at the Babe Ruth World Series Jefferson Parish, La., and Youngstown, Ohio to open this year’s tournament in Clifton Park that begins Friday.
`It takes away a lot of options,` said South Colonie coach Jeal Sutherland. `The way pool play is, we have to win two out of our four games that we play to advance, and I’m opening up against the two toughest teams in the country. It takes away any option of thinking about who to pitch, when and how long. We have to go at these games to win them both. It’s the only thing this team knows how to do anyway.`
South Colonie hasn’t played a lot of games since winning the state title because it earned an automatic berth as the representative of the host region. The All-Stars have had exhibitions against older select teams including the West Albany Wildcats and the Colonie Yankees, but Sutherland said he knows there’s a difference with the teams they will be facing at the World Series.
`They’re going to be facing teams that throw the baseball, hit the baseball, catch the baseball 10 months a year,` he said. `We play four months a year for the most part, and it’ll show. You’ll be able to see the kids with the stronger arms, the stronger legs, the pitchers that might be able to go a few pitches longer into a game because of their arm strength and their conditioning. But, they’re still 15 years old. The game is seven innings, they’re 15 years old ` anybody can win.`
South Colonie reached the World Series with strong pitching and timely hitting. Pitchers Chris Smith and Paul Nylin shut down Bethlehem during the two-game championship series at states, while Ron Notar hit a pair of clutch home runs to spark the offense.
`Nothing shakes this kid (Notar) up,` said Suther-land. `Getting a baseball bat in his hand is when he’s most comfortable. When he goes to college, he’ll probably major in hitting. He’s an unbelievable hitter. He’s a very patient power hitter. Normally, you don’t see patience with power hitters. Ron doesn’t get a lot of strikeouts. He’s not afraid to go 0-2 or 1-2 before he swings the bat.`
South Colonie’s pitchers will likely be facing teams full of hitters like Notar, Andy Carucci and Drew Rivera, but Sutherland has confidence in his staff.
`Chris Smith is definitely our No. 1, but I would have to say I have four No. 2s, which is a luxury,` said Sutherland. `They pitch to get ahead of the batters, they’ve got all three pitches working ` fastball, change up, curve ball. And just like in the major leagues, if you keep the ball low and you get ahead of the batter, the odds are in your favor, and our pitchers do a good job of that.`
South Colonie opens pool play at 3 p.m. Friday against a Jefferson Parish team that won Babe Ruth World Series title as 13- and 14-year-olds. The All-Stars then face Youngstown ` which pushed Jefferson Parish into extra innings last year before losing ` at 4 p.m. Saturday at Clifton Common.
`If we could win one of these two games, we’d be thrilled,` said Sutherland. `We know what we’re up against, but we also know we’re a quality baseball team. We may need to be perfect to win one of these games, but this team has the capability to be perfect at times.`
South Colonie wraps up pool play with games against Portland, Maine Sunday and Kelso, Wash., next Tuesday. The top three teams in each of the two pools then advance to the single-elimination championship round, which begins next Wednesday.
`This is going to be the toughest tournament that we’ve ever been in,` said Sutherland.“