The Brocton Bulldogs celebrate after winning a Section VI Class D semifinal against North Collins 4-2 on Thursday at Brocton High School. OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen

BROCTON — It has been a while since Brocton baseball made headlines. More than a half-decade had passed since the Bulldogs baseball team had a monumental win.

Thursday that all changed.

The Bulldogs took care of business with a 4-2 victory over North Collins in a Section VI Class D semifinal baseball game at Brocton High School.

After earning a bye until the semifinals, Brocton’s win on Thursday was the program’s first playoff win since 2019, the second of back-to-back trips to states.

“It’s like a story rewriting itself here,” said Brocton head coach Rob Fetterick. “Good kids just like that team was, and you can see the emotion with these kids. … These kids are resilient.”

Thursday’s contest featured a lot of common themes with those back-to-back state teams.

Brocton’s state-qualifying teams were paced by dominant pitching, and the Bulldogs certainly got that on Thursday from their ace, Anthony Gatto.

Gatto went the distance in Thursday’s win, pitching all seven innings. He found comfort in the windup, keeping the action at his pace throughout the game. But even when he was forced to pitch from the stretch, as North Collins refused to go away and threatened late, Gatto made the pitches when they counted.

“When I’m in the windup, I feel like I can wheel and deal,” Gatto said. “Everything is at my own pace.”

No. 3 North Collins was set down in order in the top of the first inning, with a strikeout bookended by a groundout to shortstop Michael Garcia and a lineout to third baseman Jeremy Weisner.

Then came the Bulldogs bats in the bottom half — and boy, those dogs were barking.

No. 2 Brocton scored four runs before an out was recorded. While two of the runs were unearned thanks to a pair of North Collins errors, there was no question about the legitimacy of two perfectly placed hits in the inning.

First, Nate Laurito ripped a double down the first base line to plate Gatto for the game’s first run. After Garcia came in to score the second run on a throwing error, Chris Furman doubled Brocton’s lead by sneaking a base hit down the third base line, just as flawlessly placed inside the bag as Laurito’s hit was at the other corner. The Bulldogs led comfortably, 4-0 after the first inning.

“That first inning, we came ready to go,” Fetterick said. “You could just tell there was a little different demeanor to them.”

North Collins got a run back in the second inning without a hit, as a one-out walk was built upon with a stolen base, an advance on a fielder’s choice, and a passed ball to let the run cross the plate.

Brocton had several opportunities to build upon its lead, but the Bulldogs failed to capitalize each time. Brocton left the bases loaded as Laurito grounded into a double play to end the second inning. The Bulldogs then left two more in scoring position with back-to-back strikeouts with runners on second and third to end the third inning. Laurito was then thrown out stealing for the final out of the fourth inning to leave a sixth runner on base.

“We started making our own mistakes, especially on the basepaths. We know that we’ve got to fix that problem there,” Fetterick said.

In all, Brocton left nine runners stranded on base and committed three outs on the basepaths. But just as the greatest teams in program history did more than a half-decade ago, these Bulldogs found a way to win anyway. Pitching and defense were the biggest reasons why.

“I knew we had our defense behind us, we had fans behind us to keep us going, so I knew if I threw strikes and did my job, we would be able to go forward,” Gatto said.

“These kids know he’s going to throw strikes, and he also knows that this team will stand behind him and play pretty solid defense,” Fetterick added. “When you’ve got those two working together, you can definitely have some success in baseball.”

As good as Gatto was, he might owe a thank you card to Laurito after a pair of stellar plays defensively in center field.

For the first out of the third inning, Laurito made a diving catch in the left-center field gap that left several guests in the North Collins fan section saying the batter was robbed.

Later in the game, Laurito was tested as a runner attempted to go from first to third on a single to center field. Laurito came up throwing and hosed him at third for the second out of the inning. A hard-hit liner to left was caught to end the frame and preserve the three-run Brocton lead.

“Laurito has been with me since eighth grade. He’s a gamer. He has really come around this year; I’m really proud of him,” Fetterick said. “… He’s had goals this year of this, and of being a first-team all-star, and I have a feeling he’s succeeded.”

North Collins managed to load the bases with nobody out in the sixth inning after a single, a hit batter, and a bunt that reached on an error. But still, Gatto got out of trouble, as he forced a shallow fly ball to right field that did not advance the runners, followed by a ground ball to the shortstop that plated a run, and a flyout to right field to end the frame. Gatto pumped his fist as he walked off the mound with the lead intact.

“North Collins battled, they didn’t give up. Those kids wanted that chance too,” Fetterick said.

In the seventh inning, Gatto took control himself. The first batter hit a pop-up in foul territory near the Brocton dugout, but Gatto called off his catcher and made the play himself. After the next two batters reached base to put the tying runs on base, Gatto buckled down again and got a flyout to Laurito in center field for the second out. Then, for the final out, Gatto again called off his teammates to make the catch himself on a high pop-up on the infield. He screamed after securing the catch to celebrate the monumental win.

“As soon as it goes up, all the feelings get to you — just one more play, one more popup you have to catch and you’re going to the championship,” Gatto said. “I knew I could make the play.”

Fetterick said, “What a special way to end a great performance to take the last two outs himself. That’s pretty awesome for him.”

Similar to the 2019 team responsible for the last postseason win — a state semifinal victory pitched by the team’s ace, Bubba Brown — Fetterick’s decision in the semifinals was similar. Instead of trying to squeak by in the semifinals to have his ace available for the championship game, Fetterick went all in on getting to the big game, and like Brown did in 2019, Gatto delivered and advanced his team.

The Bulldogs even had the same tradition as the 2019 team with a WWE-style celebration after the victory.

Brocton now advances to the title game on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Diethrick Park in Jamestown. They will face the top seed in the bracket, Franklinville, which defeated Ellicottville 4-2 on Thursday.

“Being here, we’re riding with that state team from 2019. There’s goals up there and we’re going to ride them,” Gatto said.