Story Created:
Aug 1, 2009 at 11:56 PM EST
Story Updated:
Aug 2, 2009 at 12:01 AM EST
UTICA, N.Y. (WKTV) - A long Saturday at the New York State American Legion Tournament ended with Smith Post coming back in the eighth inning and beating Melvin Roads 6-5 on a walk-off wild pitch in the ninth to stave off elimination for the third straight game at Murnane Field.
Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Kyle Richardson led off with a walk and Nate Mallinder followed single, sending Richardson, who was stealing on the pitch, to third. Zach Ciccotti then stepped into the batter's box but did not need to swing as Matt Montross' first pitch to him bounced away, scoring Richardson for the game-winner.
Melvin Roads had already clinched a berth in the championship game with a 12-5 win over Jurek Saturday morning so it was not facing elimination. But the Smith victory means three teams are still alive, requiring a semifinal to be played Sunday before the championship. That matchup will be Smith vs. Jurek, which stayed alive with an 11-4 elimination win over Rockland OTB in Saturday's middle-game, at 9:00 a.m., and the championship will follow after a short break. The forecast for the afternoon calls for heavy rain, but a tournament official said a winner must be crowned by the end of the night so the teams will have to wait it out and/or play through it.
After rallying from a 6-3 deficit in the sixth inning on Friday, Smith rallied from a 5-2 deficit in the eighth on Saturday. Ryan Cooke grounded an RBI single to make it 5-3, then Smith loaded the bases with one out. The momentum paused when pinch-runner Joshua Jones was thrown out at home trying to score on a wild pitch, but after a walk re-loaded the bases, Tim Abone flared a two-run single just over the third baseman and just inside the foul line to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, Melvin Roads put a scare into Smith when Mike Barna smoked a Mark Capponi pitch over the left field wall but foul, turning a would-be two-run home run into a long strike. Capponi recovered to strike out Bama to retire the side and set up the offense's heroics in the bottom of the frame.
For more on all three of Saturday's games, click here.
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