Thanks to a 3-1 week, the Voorheesville baseball team has secured a berth in the Section II playoffs.
The Blackbirds shut out Albany Academy 7-0 Monday to raise their Colonial Council record to 9-6 with one regular season game left.
Joe Berschwinger pitched a complete-game three-hitter to lead Voorheesville (12-8) to its ninth league win. Jay Conde belted a home run, and Ryan Gatt contributed a pair of singles as part of the Blackbirds’ seven-hit attack.
Voorheesville maintained its hold on fourth place in the league with the win. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk leads the Colonial Council with a 12-2 record, while Schalmont is in second with a 10-3 mark. Cohoes sits in third place with a 9-4 record and two games in hand on Voorheesville.
The Blackbirds started their stretch of four games last Tuesday with an 8-7 extra-inning victory over Watervliet.
Voorheesville scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 5-4 lead, but Watervliet tied the game in its half of the sixth to force extra innings. The Blackbirds put together another three-run spurt in the top of the eighth inning and then withstood a Watervliet rally in the bottom of the eighth to pull out the win.
Tom Pasqualli hit a triple and added two singles to lead Voorheesville’s offense. Kevin Pontori had three RBI for Watervliet.
The Blackbirds had a chance to beat R-C-S last Wednesday, but the Indians rallied for a 6-5 victory. R-C-S scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 6-4 lead and stopped a Voorheesville rally in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
Conde doubled and singled, and Ryan Duncan contributed a solo home run for Voorheesville, which jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Keith Hoyt led R-C-S’s offense with a double and a single, and Chris Snyder added a triple to start the Indians’ sixth inning rally.
The Blackbirds bounced back from that setback with a 12-2 victory over Cobleskill-Richmondville Friday. Voorheesville scored seven runs in the bottom of the second inning to break the game open.
Nick Blow pitched six innings of 1-hit ball for Voorheesville, and he helped his own cause by driving in four runs with a triple and a single. Berschwinger added three singles and an RBI.`