This year, it was his turn to enjoy the spotlight.

The Silver Creek Black Knights baseball team captured the Section VI Class C championship in Jamestown on May 26, giving Janisch a chance to celebrate with his team as champions — an honor Silver Creek had not enjoyed in over a decade.

Janisch was there in 2006 when Silver Creek won its last sectional title. He was also there in 2002 and 1993, for two of the three other sectional titles (the other being in 1973). Janisch has over 300 victories to his name, but 2018 seemed different for the Black Knights’ coach.

Silver Creek’s season didn’t start the way Janisch and the Black Knights had hoped. The team began the year 0-4, while only managing three total runs through the first four games. Not even the most loyal supporters of the Black Knights would’ve expected the run they were about to begin.

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen The Silver Creek Black Knights celebrate with the Section VI championship banner on May 26 in Jamestown.

The Black Knights seemingly flipped a switch and became an entirely different team after the slow start. Silver Creek won seven of its next eight games, with only a 3-0 loss at Fredonia as a blemish on the streak. After only three runs in the first four games, Silver Creek managed 75 runs in its next eight contests, while tallying five victories with a margin of 10 runs or more.

That streak of dominance came to a screeching halt at home on May 8, as the visiting Fredonia Hillbillies smacked Silver Creek 11-0. Fredonia’s pitcher Derrick Walters threw a no-hitter, while Vince Gullo claimed his 300th victory as coach for Fredonia in the contest.

“Fredonia played an outstanding game,” said Janisch after the loss. “They’re obviously a much, much better team than we are. We just have to turn the page on this game and go to the next game.”

After the loss, the Black Knights fell to Falconer — the same team that Silver Creek beat 13-3 in the previous matchup to begin its winning stretch — by a score of 4-1, a day after the loss to Fredonia.

“Sometimes, the W’s and L’s are overrated,” said Janisch. “When the times are good, it’s easy to be a tough player. When it’s not good, that’s when the cream rises to the top. That’s when you see if somebody is going to be really good or not.”

OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Silver Creek pitcher Zach Rybak — the game’s winning pitcher — delivers a pitch during the Section VI championship game in Jamestown on May 26.

Just a day after losing to Falconer, Silver Creek traveled to Pine Valley to play its third game in as many days. After losing the previous two days, Silver Creek started off the game to the Panthers down 13-2 after just two innings. In that moment, it was fair to say Silver Creek hit rock bottom.

However, the senior-led Silver Creek team would not give up on the game — or its season — just yet.

Silver Creek rallied to score 12 unanswered runs against Pine Valley to win the game, 14-13, with six runs in the seventh inning while down to the final out. Senior Zach Rybak tied the game with a bases-clearing double, while Tom Galfo — another of Silver Creek’s eight seniors — drove in Rybak for the winning run.

“The eight seniors (we had) really led the attitude this year,” said Janisch. “When you have a group of good seniors, everybody else follows.”

Silver Creek’s stunning comeback fueled another long winning streak. The Black Knights won their next three games to close out the regular season on a four-game winning streak. Silver Creek then beat Portville in the first round of sectionals and Randolph in the semifinals, which set up a rematch with Allegany-Limestone — the team that eliminated Silver Creek the year before — on May 26 in Jamestown. This time, however, the Section VI Class C Championship was on the line.

The Black Knights could not have looked any more ready.

Stephen Romanik hit the first pitch of the game for a base hit. Sam Mullen walked with one out, then Alex Bogosian hit a single to load the bases for Rybak. The starting pitcher for Silver Creek on the day, Rybak delivered with a two-run single to jump out to an early lead. Spencer Harford followed with an RBI single, which gave Silver Creek a 3-0 lead.

The Black Knights scored three more in the second inning, highlighted by a two-run single from Harford. Silver Creek also scored three more in the third inning, thanks to a bases-clearing double by Bogosian. Through three innings, Silver Creek held a 9-0 lead. The Black Knights finished off the victory by inducing a ground ball to first with the tying run at the plate to seal the win, 9-5.

“I can’t say enough about the guts these kids showed,” said Janisch.

After the win, Janisch — dripping wet from water bottles dumped over his head in celebration with his team — posed for pictures, answered questions from the media, and hugged friends and family members of the team he guided to the first sectional title in over a decade for Silver Creek baseball. In typical fashion, Janisch felt joy for his players’ achievement, rather than basking in his own glory.

“(I feel) a lot of joy, because the team really wanted to win a ballgame today,” said Janisch after the sectional championship. “It’s them, it’s not me. I didn’t do a damn thing. They’re the ones that played a great ballgame.”

Though Silver Creek’s playoff run ended a week later in the Far West Regionals with a 3-0 loss to Avon, the eight Silver Creek seniors and the rest of the 2018 Black Knights will be remembered for many years to come. They will be remembered for their dramatic turnaround from a poor start to the season. They will be remembered for the improbable comeback victory in Pine Valley — and the playoff run to follow. But most of all, they will be remembered as Section VI class champions.

Twitter: @bradencarmen