Wednesday, May 30, 2018: Williamsville East shortstop Mack wins Gatorade award

   Leading off today: Williamsville East shortstop Charlie Mack has been selected Gatorade's New York baseball player of the year.

   The 6-foot senior shortstop helped the Flames to a 17-1 record in the regular season by batting .551 with four home runs, 20 runs batted in and a .685 on-base percentage.

   Mack has signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Clemson University.

   Seventh-inning rally: Little Falls used a three-run rally in the top of the seventh inning to squeeze out a 4-2 victory over West Canada Valley for the Section 3 Class C baseball championship Tuesday.

   The Mounties started the rally when Mason Trumbull walked and went to third base on a sacrifice bunt. Anthony Servidone hit a fly ball to right field and ended up at second on an error, then Dan Bennett then singled to score Servidone for a 3-2 lead. Teddy Schoff tripled to score pinch-runner Thomas Sadekoski for a 4-2 lead.

   "Three weeks ago if you told me we were going to be sectional champs I would have said get away from me," Little Falls pitcher Parker Tooley said. "But I think coach said it. We didn't end the year the way we wanted to but going into sectionals we just got hot and started hitting the ball better and getting better at-bats and fielding the ball a lot better, which was our kryptonite."

   Oh, so close: Columbia scored in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings in the Section 2 Class AA final to win 3-1, denying Ballston Spa its first title since 1973.

   Matt Wimmer doubled to left in the sixth after Carmen Erno had singled with one out in the sixth. Willie Terrell followed with an RBI single to push the Blue Devils ahead 2-1.

   Columbia will play Baldwinsville on Saturday in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association quarterfinals.

   Ballston Spa was looking to add to the school's spring championships haul. The softball team claimed its second sectional title in three years with a 2-1 win over Columbia on Tuesday and the boys lacrosse team captured its first title over the weekend.

   CHSAA softball: Moore Catholic earned the state Catholic High School Athletic Association title with a 4-3 win over St. Anthony's in the final.

   It was Moore's second straight championship.

ADVERTISEMENT

   Eight straight: Fort Ann earned its eighth straight Section 2 Class D softball tournament championship and 23rd overall, beating Whitehall 4-1.

NYSPHSAA boys lacrosse brackets NYSPHSAA girls lacrosse brackets NYSPHSAA baseball brackets NYSPHSAA softball brackets Past years' brackets

   Sarah Paige went 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and a pair of RBIs with a sixth-inning double down the left-field line on a 3-0 pitch.

   "Coach gave me the green light to go," Paige said. "It was a pitch I liked, so I hit it."

   Winning pitcher Kayla Bailey worked out of several jams, including allowing only one first-inning run after the first three Whitehall batters reached base. She also escaped a second-and-third situation with nobody out in the fifth en route to a five-hitter.

   Still dominant: Calista Phippen wasn't at her best. But when you average almost 2.4 strikeouts an inning and have thrown six no-hitters this season, just being pretty good is enough.

   Phippen threw a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Ichabod Crane beat Schuylerville 6-2 for the Section 2 Class B crown.

   "Hey, we defied some odds today," Schuylerville coach Katie Bottisti said. "She's a great pitcher, but we made things happen."

   Ichabod Crane scored three runs each in the third and fourth innings, taking advantage of four hits and three Schuylerville errors. All of the fourth-inning runs scored on two errors.

   Speaking of aces: The Press & Sun-Bulletin wrote a feature on Deposit pitcher Makenzie Stiles, whose last two outings have been perfect games, including a 20-strikeout performance.

   The junior already has 13 career perfect games to her credit and the Lady Jacks are working on a streak of five Section 4 championships.

   Deposit lost to Oneida 8-0 in the James "Ace" Morabito Tournament on May 5 and hasn't allowed a run since.