Baseball: Marlboro slugs four homers en route to reaching Section 9 Class B final
The thought of the Marlboro baseball team reaching the section final “gave me chills,” coach John Morrissey said Wednesday.
The program is no stranger to that stage, of course, having gotten to at least the championship game in the previous three seasons. But this group doing it wasn’t a certainty.
After all, the Iron Dukes were again rebuilding and hoping to maneuver through the playoffs with an inexperienced roster for a second straight year. What are the odds of catching lightning in a bottle twice?
“It was an ego check for this program to not be a top seed and not be a team that people are expecting to win,” Morrissey said of them being seeded fourth. “But the guys have continually improved.”
Sophomore John Ryder shined on the mound and a power surge spurred Marlboro over top-seeded Burke Catholic, 8-2, in a Section 9 Class B semifinal.
Collin Casey, Tommy Benfer, Harrison Conn and Jack Schlagler each homered and the Dukes didn’t at all resemble an underdog. Hours later, the Marlboro softball team secured its berth to the section final.
Softball, too: DelSalto dazzles as Marlboro tops New Paltz to reach softball final
"The kids coming up understand the history and want to uphold the standard here," softball coach Ray Leduc said of the success of both programs. "Credit also goes to the youth programs here that develop young talent."
The baseball team advanced to face No. 2 Spackenkill in the final Saturday, 10 a.m. at Cantine Field in Saugerties.
“There were some well-hit balls that maybe would’ve been doubles at a larger field,” Morrissey said of the home runs, “but with the small dimensions (at Burke), they went out.”
Ryder struck out six and allowed no earned runs in four innings to get the win. He also singled twice, and Casey, Benfer and Schlagler each drove in two for Marlboro (13-5).
Spackenkill, meanwhile, continued its sterling season with a 6-0 win over third-seeded Dover in the other semifinal.
Sean Lucas and Dan Collins combined for the shutout. Andrew Speranza went 3 for 4 with two RBI, Lucas drove in two and Nick Ryone scored twice for the Spartans (20-2).
“They’ve got a group that's been playing together since they were little and they’ve always been successful,” Morrissey of Spackenkill. “They’re firing on all cylinders right now. We’ll have to do all the small things well and find a way to be better than them on that day.”
Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Baseball: Marlboro, Spackenkill to compete for Section 9 Class B title
