Not even rain could prevent the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake baseball team from winning its first-ever state title.
The Spartans scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning, and they never looked back as they defeated defending cham-pion Pittsford Sutherland (Section V) 8-2 in Sunday’s Class A title game in Binghanton.
It was an impressive finish to a season that started with BH-BL losing six of its first nine games.
Like I told my team, it’s not how you start your season; it’s how you finish, said BH-BL coach Paul DeLuca. `We got hot at the right time.`
The Spartans (17-10) were ready to play the championship game Satur-day afternoon, but rain washed out those plans. BH-BL then had to wait until late Sunday afternoon before taking the field against Sutherland.
`They were as loose as can be [Saturday night],` said DeLuca. `We stayed at a hotel overnight, and they had fun.`
Sutherland threatened to put an early end to BH-BL’s fun. Three of the first four Knights to come to the plate reached base, leaving starting pitcher Devin Stark in a bases-loaded bind.
BH-BL’s defense bailed Stark out, though. Nick Barra lofted a fly ball to right fielder Jayson Sullivan for the second out, and Sullivan fired a strike to catcher Dave Russell to get Hunter Merrill out at the plate to end the threat.
The momentum from Sullivan’s double play car-ried BH-BL into its three-run rally in the bottom of the first inning. Keaton Flint belted a two-run double and then scored on Jeff Heck’s base hit to give Stark a cushion to work with.
Stark settled in and kept Sutherland off balance with an array of pitches. He also let his defense do a lot of the work, as BH-BL made putout after putout.
`He pitched a great game,` DeLuca said of Stark, who also earned the complete-game victory in last Tuesday’s regional final win against Franklin Academy (Section X). `He pitched to contact, and we played errorless baseball behind him.`
Flint led a balanced Spartan offense with three hits, three runs scored and three RBI. Sullivan tripled and doubled, and Bret Dennis added a pair of hits.
`It was not about one or two guys hitting. It was about the whole team,` said DeLuca.
The Spartans breezed into the state final with a 7-1 semifinal victory over Saugerties (Section IX) Saturday. Sullivan and Heck each hit two-run doubles, and pitcher Corey Parks limited the Sawyers to four hits in a complete-game effort.
BH-BL graduates 12 seniors including Parks, Flint and Dennis.
`This is bittersweet because I have 12 seniors … and they’ve been together since Little League,` said DeLuca.“
