Bath ousted from states after claiming Section V title
BY BOB BENZ GATEHOSUE MEDIA

JASON COX/GATEHOUSE MEDIA Bath Haverling third baseman Mike Rossi tags out Gowanda's Adam Steves in the top of the third inning Monday.

WAYLAND - Bob Buckley was sure his team was good enough to earn a trip to Binghamton for last weekend.

Unfortunately, a pair of first-inning errors and a lack of timely hitting cost Buckley's Bath Haverling Rams a 90-minute bus ride east and a spot in the state Final Four.

Gowanda scored two unearned runs in the first and held off Bath for a 2-1 victory Monday, June 9, in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class B quarterfinal playoff game.

"The outcome was obviously disappointing," Buckley said. "You work your tail off all year long and you get to this level and obviously it's going to be one type of play or potentially one hit here or there and unfortunately, we kind of kicked ourselves in the foot there early and threw the ball away and essentially got two unearned runs. We dug a hole for ourselves and I thought that we fought back and we got a run back and then we had a couple things that just didn't go our way."

With the win, the Section VI champion Panthers (22-5) moved to play in a Class B state semifinal playoff game at 10 a.m. Saturday in Binghamton. Meanwhile, the Section V champion Rams (23- 5) had the most productive season in the program's history come to a bitter end as no other Bath team had ever advanced to the state quarterfinal round.

Bath starter Montana Yastremski went the distance and pitched seven strong innings without allowing an earned run, but did not get enough help to earn the win.

"Montana's last two outings, he's really been pretty much lights out," Buckley said. "A four-hitter, a three-hitter and (a five-hitter). He had pretty good control of all his pitches and he's just a gritty tough kid. He was the right man for the job and then he did the job well today. But it's a funny game."

The Rams never were able to recover from Gowanda's two-run first, which was the product of a pair of costly errors. Dylan Huch reached on an error to get things started for the Panthers in the first. With one out, Aaron Benton singled down the third-base line, allowing Huch to barely slide under the tag of Mike Rossi at third. And just as the throw came into third, Benton alertly made his way to second.

With runners at second and third and one out, Yastremski fanned clean up hitter Levi Hubbard for what should have been the second out. However, the third strike was not handled cleanly and a high throw to first was out of reach, enabling Huch and Benton to score what proved to be all the runs the Panthers would need.

"I think it was a little bit of the jitters," Buckley said of the top of the first. "You get a little anxious and you try to force something and try to make a play that isn't natural for what you're doing. You get out of your routine and unfortunately, that happens. It's just high school baseball at a high level and unfortunately, it went against us today."

Gowanda managed only five total hits off Yastremski and never had a runner get past second base after the first inning. Yastremski finished with seven strikeouts and faced only 20 batters after the first inning, only two more than the minimum 18 he could have gone against.

"He pitched a great game," Gowanda head coach Tim Smith said. "He was tough. I'd take him on my team any day of the week. He battled out there and as a former pitcher myself, that's what I want to see is somebody that's going to go out there in a big situation and not be afraid to go out there and battle and he did it."

In the fourth inning, Yastremski worked himself out of a jam after allowing Gowanda's first two batters to reach base. Gowanda's Jay John and Kris Kruszka each reached after being hit by a pitch, but Yastremski fanned two and got a fly out to second to get out of the inning unscathed.

The Rams appeared to carry some of that momentum into the bottom half of the fourth. Yastremski, Justin Brown and Chris Leonard each delivered successive one-out singles to get Bath on the scoreboard. After Yastremski and Brown singled to give the Rams runners at first and second, Leonard ripped an RBI single to left to score Yastremski. However, Brown was gunned down at third and Leonard was stranded at second.

Yastremski and Leonard each went 2-for-3 to lead the Rams at the plate. Yastremski smashed a twoout double in the sixth, but was once again stranded. The Rams left a total of six runners on base for the game.

Bath put itself in position to tie it again in the seventh, after Brett Sutryk battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk with one out. Sean Lyke then reached on a fielder's choice an made it to second when the throw to first for a potential gameending double play was off the mark. However, Gowanda starter Jay John capped off his complete-game victory by getting the final out on a groundout to third. John, the Panthers' ace, struck out three and gave up six hits.

"I think we very easily could have won 1-0, but it was 2-1," Buckley said. "They've got a good club and they should be proud and I hope they do well at the (state) tournament. We were really hoping to go down to Binghamton and we thought we were the better team."