In a game of spurts, the Niskayuna baseball team saved its biggest rally for last.
The Silver Warriors (14-7) scored nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away for a 17-6 victory over Catholic Central in Tuesday’s opening round of the Section II Class AA playoffs.
That was a good inning for us, said Niskayuna coach John Furey.
Niskayuna ` seeded fourth out of the Suburban Council ` got things going early with a four-run first inning. But Catholic Central (13-8) scored twice in the top of the second inning and added three runs in the top of the fourth to grab a 5-4 lead.
`We had an opportunity for a big [first] inning,` said Furey. `Unfortunately, we picked up a couple of outs after we scored four runs. We loaded the bases later in the inning, but we couldn’t push any of those runs across. We still got four runs, but they were able to chip away.`
The Silver Warriors regained the lead with a four-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning, highlighted by Brandon LaMar’s home run. Catholic Central hung close through the fifth inning before Niskayuna’s offense finished off the Crusaders in the sixth. The Silver Warriors scored seven runs before Catholic Central recorded an out on their way to sealing the victory.
Jake Syed led Niskayuna’s 16-hit attack with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate including a double. Ethan Kelly contributed a pair of doubles, and Aaron Wyngowski added three hits.
The Silver Warriors advance to Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Big 10 champion LaSalle at Geer Field in Troy, and Furey said he isn’t expecting another offensive explosion.
`This is a tough section, and you’re going to have to scrape some runs together. This isn’t going to be a 6-5 game. It’s going to be a low-scoring game,` said Furey.
Two other Schenectady County teams begin Sectional play Thursday in the Class A quarterfinals. No. 2 Schalmont (17-3) hosts No. 7 Averill Park (8-11), while No. 8 Scotia-Glenville (9-10) visits Valatie to play No. 1 Ichabod Crane (19-1).“