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North Collins falls short to Northstar Christian Academy 3-1 in FWR

North Collins pitcher Derek Ebersole delivers against Northstar Christian Academy in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Far West Regional at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday in Batavia. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

BATAVIA — After an up and down finish to the regular season, the North Collins baseball team rattled off three impressive victories on the way to the Section VI Class D championship.

It appeared the Eagles playoff run would continue after Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Far West Regional against Section V champion Northstar Christian Academy at Dwyer Stadium in Batavia. Behind junior pitcher Derek Ebersole, North Collins held a 1-0 lead most of the game, until the bottom of the fifth inning.

Managing just four hits the entire game, Northstar picked the best time to record its only multiple-hit inning of the contest in the fifth. After a leadoff walk by Micah Schwaderer and a sacrifice bunt by Andrew Eschner, the Knights had a runner in scoring position. A single by Da’Vonn Stevens set the table for back-to-back RBIs courtesy of a Dominic Kurmis sac fly then a Parker Seeley single.

The Knights tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth and their flawless defense was too much for North Collins to overcome, giving them the 3-1 victory to advance to the NYSPHSAA Class D state semifinals at SUNY Broome in Binghamton this Friday.

In Ebersole’s two playoff wins on the mound this year he received way more run support than necessary to advance. Those missing runs turned out to be crucial, because despite his impressive pitching line of four hits, two walks, two hit by pitches and four strikeouts, one run was not enough.

North Collins' Vincent Montaldi celebrates after his RBI double in the Far West Regional at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday in Batavia. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

“Player of the year,” North Collins head coach Scott Gill said about junior pitcher Derek Ebersole. “Nothing fazes Derek. We were in what we thought was the best spot we could be. With him on the mound and Matty in the second spot. Derek has been our horse all season, I couldn’t be more proud. They had a couple hits and it is what it is, but we held that team to three runs and I’m happy about that.”

It looked like those runs were finally on the way when needed most, trailing by two in the top of the seventh inning.

North Collins led off the frame with its hottest hitter of the day, Vincent Montaldi and he did not disappoint, softly hitting a ball between pitcher and second base that he hustled into his third hit of the day. Then delivering at the bottom of the lineup was Austin Kehr popping a ball into shallow right field for a single.

Just like that, North Collins managed to get the tying runs aboard without an out and the top of the lineup coming. However, just like it had done all day, the Knights pitchers had no problem getting those batters out without advancing runners.

Matt Sweet made sure to make things interesting in his last game in a North Collins uniform as he worked a seven-pitch walk that loaded the bases with two outs.

North Collins' Walter Ebersole scores the Eagles lone run against Northstar Christian Academy in the Far West Regional at Dwyer Stadium on Saturday in Batavia. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

Unfortunately for the Eagles, on the very first pitch of the next at bat, Asher Parnitzke hit a difficult ball to third base and an impressive throw with a close call ended the North Collins season at the Far West Regional in Batavia.

Even with the loss, the North Collins group gained a lot of valuable experience and sees where it wants to be going forward.

“There’s no quit,” Gill said about his team. “What we did last week, to win three games to get here was huge. What we did for our school and our community. Like I told them, this is just the beginning of what we’re doing. This is a building block, a stepping stone for the future. What the seniors did for this team, I’m happy and couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this family.”

Aside from junior pitcher Derek Ebersole, the brightest spot for the Eagles was Montaldi who is just a freshman. In the biggest game of his young career, Montaldi hit 3 for 3 with the Eagles’ only RBI on the game’s only extra base hit.

“Fantastic,” Gill said about Montaldi’s game. “He’s young, he’s in ninth grade. I’m looking for big things from him, the bar is set high next year, it’s going to be a fantastic year for him. He’s going to get behind the plate and he’s going to pick up where he left off, I couldn’t be happier for him.”

North Collins’ lone run came in Montaldi’s first at bat, which was in the second inning that was led off by a Walter Ebersole single. After a strikeout, Zander Miller joined Ebersole on the bases with a walk to set the table for Montaldi.

In a 1-2 hole, Montaldi connected with a pitch he liked and blooped it along the right field line, the ball had the distance to drive Ebersole in from second, but Miller and Montaldi were left in scoring position with one out.

Northstar starting pitcher Kurmis settled back in after giving up the RBI double to record two of his four strikeouts to end the inning. Kurmis gave up just the one run, but it was his teammate Schwaderer to earn the win on the mound as he finished the final 2 2/3 innings just allowing two hits and walking one.

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