Boland’s walk-off double sends Senerchia past NEFL in playoff opener

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 7/26/16

Joe Boland's one-out, RBI double in the bottom of the 10th lifted Senerchia Post 74 to a 4-3, walk-off victory over rival NEFL/Shields Post 43 on Monday morning in the opening game of the legion baseball playoffs at Johnson

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Boland’s walk-off double sends Senerchia past NEFL in playoff opener

Posted

Joe Boland’s one-out, RBI double in the bottom of the 10th lifted Senerchia Post 74 to a 4-3, walk-off victory over rival NEFL/Shields Post 43 on Monday morning in the opening game of the legion baseball playoffs at Johnson and Wales University.

Senerchia took a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning, before an RBI single from Austin Lamaire cut NEFL’s deficit in half and an error allowed the tying run to score.

After a scoreless ninth and top half of the 10th, Nico Salvaggio drew a one-out walk off of NEFL starter Elijah Dressel in the bottom of the 10th, bringing Boland to the plate.

Senerchia’s starting catcher would hit an outside pitch down the right field line that rolled past a diving Dave Defusco, allowing the winning run to score all the way from first.

“I was just looking for a single, not looking for anything big,” Boland said of the game’s final at-bat. “I was trying to just move the runner over at first – just basically trying to swing with a purpose.”

“That’s the kind of hitter he is – he gets fastballs up and drives them,” Senerchia head coach Chris Sheehan said. “He’s had a steady summer for us, both hitting and behind the plate, so it was nice to see him come through.”

In the early innings, Senerchia took command of the game. It tacked on a run in each of the first three innings off Dressel, as Elijah Brown and Brian Cipolla notched RBI singles in the first and second innings, respectively.

After Joe Maynard allowed Josh Coleman to cross home safely on a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded in the top of the third, Billy Roberge made it 3-1 in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI ground out.

Being aggressive early was part of the offensive game plan for the Hawks.

“That’s kind of the book on [Dressel] – if you’re going to get him, get him early because once he settles in, he’s tough,” Sheehan said. “He’s got good stuff as we saw today.”

After the third inning, Dressel settled in from there on out.

He would end up going the distance, firing six consecutive scoreless frames from the fourth through ninth innings.

With Dressel silencing Senerchia’s bats, NEFL’s lineup was finally able to get something going in the eighth.

Maynard, who fanned five over an impressive 7 1/3 innings, yielded a single to No. 9 hitter Chris Reid to lead off the inning. With one down, Maynard then hit Matt Boelter with a pitch, putting two runners on and triggering Sheehan to go to the bullpen and bring in southpaw Marc Andrews.

However, Andrews couldn’t hold the lead for Senerchia.

The first batter he faced was Lamaire, who singled home Reid to make it 3-2. Dan Pratt then grounded a ball with two down to second that was mishandled by Cipolla, as Boelter scored to tie the game at 3.

NEFL looked to continue its momentum when it put the potential winning run on second in the top of the ninth, but Senerchia shortstop Domenic Crocenzi dove to his right to make a catch on a line drive off the bat of Reid, before firing to second to double up Coleman to end the threat.

That proved costly as Boland came through with the game-winning hit in the 10th off Dressel, who muscled his way through 9 1/3 solid innings.

Due to the loss, NEFL will now play a must-win game today at JWU at 12:30 p.m. against the loser of R&R Construction and Upper Deck/Posts 86 and 14.

Senerchia, on the other hand, will stay in the winners’ bracket and will get the winner of the game between R&R and Upper Deck at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

“This was a huge win,” Sheehan said. “To come out and win the first game in a tournament like this and have Joe Maynard go deep in the game for us, it was huge.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here