Robert Tedesco will no longer have to wonder what if.
Nearly one year to the day that he had one of his poorest pitching performances, the Mohonasen senior scattered six hits and struck out 14 to lead the Mighty Warriors to a 2-1 victory over crosstown rival Schalmont in last Friday’s Section II, Class A baseball final at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy.
This definitely makes up for last year, said Tedesco, who was the losing pitcher in Mohonasen’s 9-2 setback against Ichabod Crane in last year’s Class A final. `I remember last year ` being taken out down 7-2 and wondering if I’d ever get back here.`
`Last year, he tried too hard and overpitched,` said Mohonasen coach Jim Huggins. `This year, he stayed within himself.`
To gain redemption, Tedesco had to shut down a potent Schalmont offense. He allowed one run in the bottom of the second inning, but he came back strong in the middle innings, striking out six consecutive batters in the third and fourth frames.
`Everything was working,` said Tedesco. `I felt good in warm-ups ` even better than last year, even better than against Lansingburgh (in the Class A quarterfinals).`
Schalmont (19-7) threatened to tie the game in the sixth and seventh innings, but Tedesco got the outs he needed to complete the victory.
`We had our chances,` said Schalmont coach Bob Anderson. `We left nine runners on base. We just couldn’t get the hits when we needed them.`
Lost in Tedesco’s performance was a strong outing from Schalmont ace Joe Amorosi. The junior allowed only four hits and struck out five in a complete-game performance.
`All year long, we’ve preached that defense and pitching would win us games,` said Anderson. `We couldn’t have played better defensively, and we couldn’t have pitched any better. We just didn’t get the clutch hits.`
The only runs Amorosi allowed came early in the game. Dominick Bianchi led off the top of the second inning with a triple and scored Mohonasen’s first run on Jacob Papa’s single. After Schalmont tied the game in the bottom half of the second on Chris Hotaling’s RBI single, the Mighty Warriors (10-13) regained the lead in the top of the third on Lucas Flood’s RBI double.
`We got the big hits when we had runners on base,` said Huggins.
The victory gave Mohonasen its first Sectional title since 1982 and propelled the Mighty Warriors into Tuesday’s scheduled regional final against Section III champion Mexico at Syracuse’s Alliance Bank Stadium.
`I told these kids before the season began that it’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish it ` and these kids believed in it,` said Huggins.
Meanwhile, Schalmont is left to look back at a season in which it finished second to Lansingburgh in the Colonial Council standings and came within a game of its second Class A title in four years.
`We went beyond our expectations a little bit,` said Anderson. `It was unfortunate how the season ened, but I think that when they look back at the season, they’ll be proud of their accomplishments.`
Falcons soar into finals
Schenectady Christian’s 5-year-old varsity baseball program is also in the regional finals, thanks to a come-from-behind 5-2 victory over Section VII champion Indian Lake/Long Lake in Monday’s Class D regional semifinal at Albany’s Bleecker Stadium.
The Falcons (16-8) scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take the lead for good. The big hit was a two-run single off Tyler Spence’s bat that broke a 2-2 tie.
Ian Compton contributed a solo home run, and Matt Gallup pitched a complete-game seven-hitter with 11 strikeouts for Schenectady Christian, which advanced to Wednesday’s regional final against Section X champion Clifton Fine at Bleecker Stadium.
The Falcons reached the regionals for the first time after beating top-seeded Fort Ann 6-3 in last Thursday’s Section II, Class D final at Joe Bruno Stadium.
Down 3-0 in the fifth inning, Schenectady Christian exploded for six runs on four hits. R.J. Gallup and Steve Carter each hit two-run singles to put the Falcons ahead for good.
R.J. Gallup gave up a run in the first inning and two runs in the bottom of the fourth before shutting Fort Ann down the rest of the way to earn the complete-game win.“