QUINTIN JAMES
Staff Writer
Going into the week, the Fredonia men’s baseball team needed help to get into the playoffs for the second consecutive year. It had to basically win out and hope for some help from other SUNYAC teams to have a chance to get into the playoffs.
The Blue Devils had a tough task ahead of them, as they had to face Penn. State Behrend and Alfred State before squaring off against conference opponent Plattsburgh in a three-game series.
Fredonia started the week by playing I-90 rival Penn. State Behrend, a team that it had faced earlier in the season. The first time that these two teams faced, the Blue Devils lost. But this time the offense was on fire, and Fredonia won 17-10.
In the ninth inning, the Blue Devils were down 10-8, but they scored nine runs in the top of the ninth to seal the victory. Junior outfielder Alexio Medina had the go-ahead bases clearing double, and junior first baseman Michael Prentice broke the game open with a two-run single.
The Blue Devils had 17 hits in the game and took back the I-90 Cup from Penn State Behrend.
Sophomore outfielder Steve Zaprowski said the team has vastly improved at the plate as the season has progressed.
“I think that we improved our hitting a lot since the start of the year. Coming into the year, we knew that we were a very deep talented hitting team, but we got off to a little bit of a slow start with the bats,” said Zaprowski. “As the season went on, we started hitting the ball better, driving it to all fields and executing situations when we needed to.”
The Blue Devils took a quick 2-0 lead early, but Alfred State scored three runs in the bottom of the third and kept the lead, winning 8-3.
Fredonia came back home, looking for a sweep against Plattsburgh. The Blue Devils were looking to recapture the magic from earlier in the season.
Game one of the series saw senior Zach Jordon pitch a complete game six hitter, and senior outfielder Quinn Danahy went 4-4 with two runners batted in (RBI) as Fredonia kept its playoff dreams afloat with a 4-2 win.
Jordon finished the game, retiring the last seven batters, including striking out the side in the ninth to improve to 4-4 on the year.
Games two and three were must-win games for the Blue Devils, as they had to sweep the doubleheader and hope Brockport beat New Paltz in their own doubleheader to clinch a playoff berth.
Game one of the doubleheader was a close competitive game that saw Fredonia fight for its playoff lives, winning 7-3.
Down 3-2 in the third, Fredonia scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to get the win. Freshman pitcher Luke Kuczewski got the win, going five innings to improve his record to 3-2.
Game two of the doubleheader saw Fredonia play like they knew they were going to make the playoffs. They rattled off a season-high 22 hits and scored 15 runs to win in a rout 15-5. Danahy and senior catcher Dan Cecilia both lead the team with four hits.
“Our team battled back all season long. To start the weekend it was a long shot, needing us and Brockport to sweep, but we expected really big things from our team,” said Head Coach Matt Palisin. “They earned this opportunity. It was also great to see our seniors step up on Senior Day. Danahy, Cecilia and Sherman were dominant at the plate. The three of them combined for 15 hits today.”
The Blue Devils qualify for the SUNYAC Tournament for the third time in four years.
As the No. 4 seed, they will take on the defending national champion and tournament host Cortland Red Dragons at noon this Friday. Last year, the Blue Devils were defeated by the Red Dragons in the first round of SUNYAC playoffs.
Steve Zaprowski also added that they have momentum heading into the playoffs, and the team is confident.
“We definitely have a lot of momentum going into the playoffs. We’ll have our top guys on the mound ready to go, so I think we have all the confidence in the world going into playoffs,” said Zaprowski. “To get past the first round, we’re going to have to execute the routine plays and put up runs on the board for our pitchers. The teams that were going up against are solid hitting teams, so we just have to match that and come out with more intensity.”