The Guilderland baseball team met its match in the form of the Lindenhurst Bulldogs from Long Island.
The state’s No. 1 ranked Class AA team scored 12 runs in the first two innings to defeat the Dutchmen 15-2 in Saturday’s Class AA state final in Binghamton.
They’re a very good baseball team, Guilderland coach Doug LaValley said of Lindenhurst, which won its final 25 games after losing its season opener.
Walks wounded Guilderland (17-10) in the state final. The Dutchmen surrendered five walks in the first inning, which led to four Lindenhurt runs. Several more walks in the second inning helped the Bulldogs put together an eight-run rally to put Guilderland away.
`[Our pitchers] did a great job throughout the playoffs. They just ran out of steam,` said LaValley.
The Dutchmen ad-vanced to the state final earlier Saturday with an 8-3 semifinal victory over Section V champion McQuaid of Rochester.
Matt Zanotta led the way for Guilderland with an impressive power display. Zanotta smacked his 17th and 18th home runs of the season and added a triple to drive in six of the Dutchmen’s eight runs.
`If he’s not the player of the year in the state, I’d like to meet the guy who is,` LaValley said of Zanotta.“
