05-22-09 - With both their aces on the hill, Hudson and Ichabod Crane both thought they’d have a strong chance to pull out a win in this late season Patroon Conference baseball matchup on Tuesday. While runs were tough to come by since both pitchers subdued the opposing offenses, the Bluehawks rallied from down 2 in the sixth inning to pull out a 3-2 win. The Bluehawks’ win puts them at 14-3 in second place, while the Riders fall to 13-5..
Hudson gets the out at second on a ICC bunt
Ingham easily sat down the Bluehawk batters in the top of the second. In the bottom of the second, the Riders again put the pressure on as they loaded the bases with two outs. Brantley was able to fight back and record the third out to end the threat and strand the three ICC runners.A stolen base and a sacrifice bunt quickly moved Brantley to third with just one out, but Ingham was able stifle the next two Hudson batters to hold the early tie.
In the bottom of the first, it was Brantley’s turn to take the mound, but the Riders were able to get on the scoreboard off the Siena-bound senior. Ingham reached base on a walk and moved to second when Brantley threw away an attempted pick off. Alex Mastrianni stepped up to the plate and ripped an RBI single to right field.
After Ingham sat down the Bluehawks easily in the second, the Riders again put the pressure on as they loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second, but Brantley was able to fight back and record the third out to strand the three runners.
Both teams had their chances in the third as Jordan Smith singled with one out for the Bluehawks. A Brantley double put two runners in scoring position with just one out for Hudson, but the next batter hit a low line drive back to Ingham, who snared it and doubled Smith off at third to end the threat. In the bottom half of the inning, Mastrianni picked up another single, and Alex Issler got one of his own. Zach Albery was up next and grounded to the third basemen, who touched third then tried to turn the double play by gunning down Albery, but the throw got past Talib Barksdale at first and allowed Issler to come all the way around to score the game’s second run
Hudson is tagged out after a strikeout
Each ace settled down until the bottom of the sixth inning when Brantley and Brandon Williams each led off the inning with a walk. A wild pitch by Ingham moved them both into scoring range with no outs. Mike Rigos stepped to the plate for Hudson and delivered with a game-tying two-RBI double to left center field. Seth Williams came in and replaced Ingham on the hill, but the result was the same. Rigos stole third on a close play that resulted in Rigos being safe after accidentally cleating the third baseman causing him to drop the ball. After a pop out, a wild pitch scored the game’s winning run.
Brantley closed out the final two innings by giving up just one hit and striking out three of the final six batters he faced to secure the win. Brantley scattered the two runs on just five hits and three walks while striking out six. His counterpart, Ingham went five plus innings, striking out four while walking three. Williams struck out one in his one plus inning of work.
On Wednesday the two teams hooked up again, and Hudson earned its second victory over ICC with an 8-0 win. Kevin Gorman took the mound for Hudson and pitched a complete game to earn the win, while Bryan Smith and Mastrianni combined on the mound for ICC in the loss.
Mike Rigos went 2-3 with 2 RBIs, including a home run. Brad Holmes went 2-2 for Hudson, and Alex Ebel added a two-RBI single. The Riders’ three hits came off the bats of Mastrianni, Williams, and Phil Basile.
Hudson finished the Patroon Conference with a 15-3 record, good for second place, while the Riders finished 12-6 in third.
