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Redskin Pride
District Champs
From Morning Times at: http://www.morning-times.com
By Dave Post
Thu May 29, 2008, 01:16 AM EDT
It’s been 41 years since Sayre has won a District IV baseball championship. Staring at a 3-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the seventh, it looked like that drought would continue. Sayre, though, had other plans. The Redskins, held to two hits through six innings, had four hits in the seventh to take the game to extra innings and finally outlasted the Red Raiders for a 4-3 win in 14 innings.
“We played two whole games tonight and the kids didn’t quit,” said Sayre coach Glenn Jarvis. “Several times we thought we were down and out but the kids didn’t stop chugging away. “Two freshmen have been coming through all year and the juniors and sophomores have been coming on and helping the seniors. It was a great team effort all the way through the year.”
With upperclassmen and underclassmen contributing, it was truly a team effort for the Redskins. Senior Andy Podolinski started on the hill for Sayre, and was replaced after five innings by sophomore Joey Antonetti. Freshman Taylor Skerpon had a double-saving, leaping catch in the top of the 14th and little-used senior Josh Kelsey laced a pinch-hit, one-out single in the bottom of the 14th to start the game-winning rally.
Kelsey was quickly in an 0-2 hole, but two curve balls by the Raiders’ Billy Smith left the count at 2-2. Smith’s next pitch was a fastball on the outside. Kelsey, simply looking for a fastball, went with the pitch to the opposite field and the Redskins were in business. Kelsey went to third, after nearly stopping at second, on a single by leadoff hitter Antonetti With a 1-1 count on Eric Secor, the Raiders elected to put Secor on and pitch to Skerpon. The freshman laced a one-hopper to short and Hecknauer got the out at home. Skerpon kept the inning alive by beating the relay to first to set Podolinski up with the bases loaded and two outs with the district title on the line. In a scene he no doubt played out in his mind a thousand times as a kid, A-Pod came through in the clutch, lining a single through the left side of the infield to bring Antonetti in with the winning run.
Then, bedlam. Appropriate for a program that hasn’t been here since, possibly, before some of the players’ parents were born.
“I don’t usually hit, but coach (Glenn Jarvis) said I’d pinch hit and I thought, ‘all right, I can do this,’” said Kelsey. “Josh (Burlingame) struck out, so that made me a little nervous and I was really nervous when I got two strikes on me. He threw me a couple of curve balls and I thought, ‘okay,’ then he threw me a fast ball outside and i just hit it.”
“Sometimes in big games, it is an unsung hero and Kelsey was it,” said Jarvis.
“This means a lot,” said Podolinski. “I always dreamed about this when I was younger. The last time Sayre won a district championship was 1967. They went 16 innings and we went 14.”
Podolinski, who had been stinging the ball all night — he was robbed twice by outstanding plays in the outfield — was confident going into his last at-bat.
“Once Taylor got on base, I knew it was time. We were going to need to end the game there. He threw me a belt-high fastball. It looked huge, so I just cranked it.”
It nearly didn’t happen.
Podolinski, who struck out 10 with three walks, one intentional, allowed all three Raiders runs but just one was earned. With two outs in the top of the first, Ryan Hecknauer singled and scored on a double by Joel Worthington.
Then, bedlam. Appropriate for a program that hasn’t been here since, possibly, before some of the players’ parents were born.
“I don’t usually hit, but coach (Glenn Jarvis) said I’d pinch hit and I thought, ‘all right, I can do this,’” said Kelsey. “Josh (Burlingame) struck out, so that made me a little nervous and I was really nervous when I got two strikes on me. He threw me a couple of curve balls and I thought, ‘okay,’ then he threw me a fast ball outside and i just hit it.”
“Sometimes in big games, it is an unsung hero and Kelsey was it,” said Jarvis.
“This means a lot,” said Podolinski. “I always dreamed about this when I was younger. The last time Sayre won a district championship was 1967. They went 16 innings and we went 14.”
Podolinski, who had been stinging the ball all night — he was robbed twice by outstanding plays in the outfield — was confident going into his last at-bat.
“Once Taylor got on base, I knew it was time. We were going to need to end the game there. He threw me a belt-high fastball. It looked huge, so I just cranked it.”
It nearly didn’t happen.
Podolinski, who struck out 10 with three walks, one intentional, allowed all three Raiders runs but just one was earned. With two outs in the top of the first, Ryan Hecknauer singled and scored on a double by Joel Worthington.
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