QUINTIN JAMES
Assistant Sports Editor
Coming into the weekend, the men’s baseball team was trying to catch Brockport for the fourth and final spot in the playoffs. The Blue Devils had to win the remainder of their games and get help to get in. That quest started with the last SUNYAC series of the year at home versus Plattsburgh.
Plattsburgh took an early lead in the third inning on a sacrifice fly before Fredonia countered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, courtesy of senior Josh Crocetti’s two run single.
The game would go back and forth as Plattsburgh would counter in the sixth with two runs of their own to take the lead before senior Steve Zaprowski singled in the seventh to give Fredonia the lead back.
Plattsburgh would waste an opportunity to tie the game in the eighth but would tie the game in the ninth on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at four.
Both teams struggled to score in extra innings until Plattsburgh broke thrown in the 12th on an RBI double to regain the lead for good, killing any chance Fredonia had of making the SUNYAC tournament.
Fredonia would get two men on in the bottom of the 12th, but a flyout would end the game and the Blue Devils playoff hopes for the 2017-18 season.
Steve Zaprowski talked afterwards about losing such an important game that was a “winnable game.”
“It’s very disappointing to lose a game like that,” he said. “We battled from first pitch to last, and just a few things didn’t go our way that costed us the game.”
Senior Bailey Gauthier shared the same sentiment, as this loss was hard on the seniors after missing the postseason.
“It’s definitely a tough one to swallow, especially since we had to win out and we would be in the playoffs. Losing that first game stung right after for the whole team especially for the seniors who knew they wouldn’t get into the postseason,” said Gauthier. “We played hard, it’s just they found a way to want it a little more than us towards the end of the game.”
With the playoff push over, the Blue Devils still had to finish their series versus Plattsburgh. The next game was the baseball team’s “Pitch for Purple” game where they raised awareness for domestic violence victims.
Pitch for Purple is all about spreading awareness against domestic violence.
“Unfortunately in today’s society, there has been a lot of domestic violence cases against professional athletes and even celebrities,” said Gauthier. “It’s sad because these are supposed to be people that younger generations look up to. We wanted to show, especially through the slogan ‘Silent No More,’ that it’s important to us as a group to use our platform to spread that awareness around our Fredonia campus. It shouldn’t be tolerated.”
The Blue Devils looked to end the weekend and senior day on a positive note and the team did just that. The team used some late game heroics from senior Derek Fie in both games of the doubleheader. Fie had the game winning hit in both games for the Blue Devils.
In game one, the score was tied up at seven after seven innings of back and forth baseball before Fie singled home Zaprowski with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
In game two, the Blue Devils rallied from down 2-0 in the fifth inning to score one in the sixth and two in the seventh to come back and close out the series with a win.
After Zaprowski sac fly tied the game, Fie singled in freshman Joseph Coene to gain the walk off victory in the second consecutive game.
Though the playoffs will not be in the Blue Devils future this year, going out on a high note was a good feeling for the seniors, including friends Zaprowski and Gauthier who reminisced on their times playing Fredonia baseball.
“There’s nothing I’ll miss more than the friendships I made on the field these past four years,” said Zaprowski. “You come in not knowing anyone as a freshman, and you leave with life long brothers by the end of the four years. Whenever we bring it up in a huddle, we always break it down by saying, ‘family on three.’ That just shows the type of bonds that are built on this team that makes it so special. On and off the field, these guys mean so much to me, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“My last few games meant a lot to me as we were able to finish strong the last two SUNYAC series and some non- conference games, even though we didn’t reach the outcome we wanted,” said Gauthier. “We were able to get two memorable walk off wins that most likely will end our season and that’s something we will always look back and remember, which is a pretty cool feeling. It’s been a pleasure to be apart of this program the last four years, and I will always be grateful, as it taught me a lot when it came to being a student athlete.”
The Blue Devils look to finish the season strong when they face Pitt-Bradford in the final regular season game of the 2018 season.