North Colonie won the Eastern New York Prep Baseball League 18U championship after beating Coxsackie in the finals 8-4 on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Cook Park. The three-day event also served as the Babe Ruth state tournament for chartered teams.
North Colonie got to the finals by beating Saugerties 8-4 earlier on Sunday in the first semi-final game and Coxsackie got by Bethlehem 11-1 in the second to earn a trip to the championship game. The Troy Expos defeated host South Colonie in the consolation game 4-1.
In the finals, North Colonie jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning but Coxsackie sent eight men to the plate in the bottom half of the second to tie it up at three.
North Colonie leap frogged back on top with three of its own in the top of the third on a two run single by Emory Blanchett who later scored on one of three Coxsackie errors in the inning.
Josh Foglia hit an RBI double to the wall in the top of the fifth and later scored a run to give North Colonie an 8-3 lead. Coxsackie scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-4 and while they did put two men on base in the bottom of the seventh, they failed to put anyone across the plate.
Matt Snyder and Steve Martino went 2 for 3 for North Colonie while Foglia and Blanchett added hits.
Tyler Stanton and Alex Benedetti split the duties on the mound for North Colonie giving up four runs on six hits while walking four and striking out three.
In the semi-final matchup against Saugerties, Blanchett went 2 for 3 with two doubles and scored a run for North Colonie. Jake Daniels went 2 for 3 with two runs scored, Matt Snyder went 2 for 3 with a run scored and Michael Simkulet had a single and a run scored.
In the first round, on Thursday, Aug. 13, North Colonie defeated the Troy Expos 11-5 at the Boght Road Baseball Complex and Bethlehem beat South Colonie 8-4 at Cook Park. On Friday, the Saugerties got by the Expos 3-0 and Bethlehem beat Coxsackie 6-1.
The tournament was hosted by South Colonie.
Click on a photo below to view a slideshow of the championship game between North Colonie and Coxsackie.
