HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Saratoga handles Troy, with Shen rematch on-deck (2024)

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — There’s always a different vibe to senior night and more energy, emanating from the dugout. As if the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks baseball team needed more reason to get up for the affair, to honor its 10 seniors, the group was looking to bounce back from a loss the night before, which snapped a streak of seven straight wins.

“At the end of the game (Tuesday), I said, ‘We can’t change the scoreboard.’ So, our attitude is: How can we respond? What we do tomorrow, really is going to define our character,” Saratoga Springs head coach Andrew Cuthbertson said, postgame, on Wednesday, “Are we going to feel sorry for ourselves, or, are we going to pick it up and get back to work? So today, we got back to work and got back in the win column.”

“This group is the type of group to get punched in the face and battle back right away,” senior first-baseman Michael Mack added. “No one’s gonna sit here and hang their head, no one is gonna cry about it in the dugout; everyone comes to play, you play to win. If we lose, we come back the next day and we get the win.”

The Blue Streaks rallied back for a 7-2, victory against Troy on Wednesday night at East Side Recreation Park, and while it may not have been pretty to start, a win is a win, and on senior night, it simply means more.

Yet not only were the seniors honored but they helped lead the way.

“The guys did a good job of staying composed and battling back. John Panarese came in and did a nice job in innings three, four, and five and then finishing up a Louis Betit; he did a nice job as well, in six and seven. And then our hitters came alive,” Cuthbertson said. “(Patrick) McKinley had a good game, Cameron Rhude had a good game, Michael Mack had a big hit. So, it was senior night, and our seniors getting to play.”

“This definitely means a lot. I’ve played with some of these guys since I was eight years old and it means a lot to just have one, final night, recognizing all of us playing together and what we’ve accomplished throughout the years,” Mack remarked.

Slightly more than 24 hours prior, the Blue Streaks had outhit the Ballston Spa Scotties, 8-3, and led 3-2 into the final frame before losing on a walk-off, hit-by-pitch. Starting Wednesday’s matchup, the Blue Streaks allowed the Flying Horses to bring two across, via an error and another, hit-by-pitch.

Hence, four consecutive unearned runs yielded across two games.

Saratoga Springs cut the lead in half with an RBI single from Rhude in the bottom of the first, before seeing senior Patrick Messineo bounce back with a one-two-three top of the second, to finish his night.

Panarese entered in his place, down 2-1, and after retiring the Flying Horses in order in the top of the third and the Blue Streaks going down in order in the bottom half of the frame, and got into trouble in the top of the fourth.

Back-to-back singles from Troy’s Tyler Dickenson and Jason Bradley, preceded by a walk from Ethan Paul, loaded the bases on Panarese and Saratoga Springs, with one out. A strikeout and ground ball fielder’s choice got the home club out of the inning unscathed.

“We talked a little bit about performing under pressure and, obviously, that’s a pressure situation, but just kind of winning, pitch-by-pitch and I think that was the attitude that got us out of that jam,” Cuthbertson said. “Just executing, throwing strikes and executing on defense.”

“We just have a bunch of dogs on our team and that gives us a ton of momentum coming into the dugout. Everybody wants to hit, everyone’s fired up, everyone’s got adrenaline flowing through them; everyone just wants to win the game,” Mack said. “So, it was big to get out of that inning.”

Saratoga Springs capitalized, tying the game with a dropped pop-fly in the bottom of the fourth, which scored senior Joshua Delnicki from second. After a smoother top half of the fifth, with Panarese inducing two strikeouts and a two-pitch groundout, Saratoga Springs brought across five more runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by RBI singles from Mack, Rhude, and McKinley, plus a two-out, double from senior Patrick Temple, to plate Rhude.

With a new, 7-2 lead and Panarese in line for the win, Betit closed it out with two, scoreless innings and four strikeouts, to get the Blue Streaks a new win streak going.

The defending Section 2 Class AA runner-ups started the season with back-to-back losses, also on back-to-back days, to Mechanicville and Niskayuna, both by 3-2 scores. After that, it was seven wins in 14 days, including outings of 10 runs or more in four of such victories.

“We kind of got that out of our system and started playing ball. But, I keep telling these guys, we got to play our best ball in the middle of May, so, we’re continuing to get better every time,” Cuthbertson said.

“Those are definitely two, fluke losses. We win those games, nine times out of 10,” Mack added. “This is a great group of guys that everyone comes to play hard, everyone wants to win; it’s Saratoga baseball, that’s the backbone of it.”

While the streak may be gone, the Blue Streaks should still be tabbed as the ‘hot team’ in Suburban Council, having won eight of the past nine games. However, everything resets with the Blue Streaks’ next opponent on the horizon, rival Shenendehowa (5-2), for a 2023 Sectional Championship rematch.

The Plainsmen won last year’s winner-take-all matchup, 3-1, at Joe Bruno Stadium, to deny the Blue Streaks back-to-back titles and earn a trip to NYSPHSAA Class AA Regionals.

“I think anytime we play Shen it’s a good matchup. They get up for us and we get up for them. We try not to buy into too much of that. We want to try to keep our emotions under check and perform, regardless of who we’re playing,” Cuthbertson said. “Suburban Council is a tough schedule. We got Shen, Bethlehem, and then Shaker the next three games and then throw Albany Academy in there as a non-league, as well. But, I just love playing in this league because you get good competition and it’s a dogfight every day and the kids got to earn it.”

“Last year, losing to Shen was a big one. We were the better team. Everybody’s coming in hungry to win this game. There’s not a single guy on this team that does not want to beat Shen and I think everyone’s gonna come hungry and want to win,” Mack said. “It’ll be a big game.”

The first pitch Friday is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., at Shenendehowa.

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Saratoga Springs 7, Troy 2

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Flying Horses- Keefe R, BB; Harkin R, Bentley 1B; Vallee BB, Dickenson 1B, RBI, HBP; Bradley 1B; Paul BB. PITCHING: Harkin (L) 4.1, 7R (1ER), 7H, 2BB, 5K; Fraser 1.2, H, BB, 2K.

Blue Streaks- Mack 1B, R, RBI; Betit 1B, 2R, BB, SB; Delnicki 1B, 2R, BB; Rodriguez R, BB, 2xSB; Rhude 2x1B, R, 2RBI; McKinley 2B, 1B, 2RBI; Panarese BB; Temple 1B, RBI. PITCHING: Messineo 2.0, 2R (0ER), H, 2BB, 3K; Panarese (W) 3.0, 2H, BB, 5K; Betit 2.0, 4K.