JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP —
Baseball, well any game, really, usually comes down to a few, simple but key moments.
Even games that are decided by five or more runs, if you trace what happened back to a certain point in time — an error, a strikeout, a runner left on base — you can see where things went right, or wrong.
Such was the case Friday when the Jefferson Falcons saw their season end at the hands of the Lake Catholic Cougars, 6-4, in a Division II district title game at Cotton Field.
Sure, there were several moments in the game where momentum was won or lost.
Most people will point to a perfectly executed hit and run by Andrew Kustec (stealing second) and Sam Cicconetti (hitting the ball where Jefferson second baseman Chase Stowe would’ve been otherwise).
That set the table for Zach Frate to hit a two-run single up the middle for the deciding two runs in the game.
But, you could also point to a Jefferson error during a three-run second inning by Lake Catholic.
Or, Cougars pitcher Joey Samuele picking off a Falcons base runner in the top of the fourth, as well as what appeared to be a blown call on a Stowe groundout later that inning that would’ve scored another Jefferson run.
Falcons coach Scott Barber probably won’t be going into the fortune-telling business anytime soon, but he certainly predicted how this game would be decided.
“We talked, what, a couple days ago (yesterday, actually), one or two plays make a huge difference in all these baseball games,” he said. “You want to beat the best to get there, we just didn’t get the breaks our way today. You think about a (bloop down the right-field line), some things like that. A clutch base hit. Our guy getting picked off.
“I’ll just say it straight up — a blown call at first base that didn’t go our way. It was a missed call and that was the big inning where we scored a couple runs.”
Those three or four simple plays, either misplayed by Jefferson or an umpire and executed properly for Lake Catholic, ends up deciding a district. Defining a season.
As Cougars coach Dennis Woods put it, it’s always difficult at this stage in the tournament.
“I always say the further you get in the tournament, the more depressing the loss,” he said. “You lose in the first game, you’re out. It’s over and done. The further you go the tougher it is. They played a good game, we got lucky on one play.”
Barber is ready for one or two of those plays to go his way.
He’s sick of seeing his season end on the field he tirelessly works on to get into pristine condition for the district tournament.
“We’ll be here again, I just want to get the heck out of here,” he said, chuckling at the thought. “You know? We face the best people, not just in our district but the whole region here; no doubt about it. To get out of here is a huge goal and huge achievement.”
For some, on the outside looking in, this could be seen as an end.
From my perspective, it’s just the beginning.
Barber will get his district title and there’s a good chance he gets it with many of the players currently on this team.
Yes, the Falcons lose seven seniors. Their leadoff hitter as well as hitters three-through-five and the eighth hitter in the Jefferson order on Friday will be gone — Chase Stowe (batting .402), Andy Santiago (.358), Ryan Hayes (.373), Nick Stranman (.329) and Johnny Knight (.372).
“You lose seven very valuable people in those seniors,” he said. “(Teams) lose seven players, they’re devastated. We’re not even close to that. We’re really looking forward to the offseason and coming back, we’ll be here again.”
Is that simply coach’s ambition, optimism?
No, not when you consider that sophomore shortstop Joey Piscsalko, one of the top players at his position in the area in just his second year in high school, returns.
They also return Ethan Pawlowski, who came on late in the season to play right and ended up hitting .387.
More importantly, they return three quality pitchers, two of whom — sophomores Cole Erdel and Kurtis Fusco — combined to throw all six innings of Friday’s loss.
They also have sophomore Ryan Zindash, who has impressive arm strength but lacks control at times. The trio combined to throw 90.5 innings for the Falcons this season.
While those three will be important for the future, there is always a tendency to look ahead as soon as the season ends.
Let’s take a step back and appreciate what Jefferson actually accomplished this season.
I was at Cotton Field on March 28th when the Falcons lost to Edgewood, 17-6, to drop to 0-3 on the season.
They looked to be a team in disarray, stunned to be off to such a woeful start, resigned to the misery of a long season that was ahead.
Jefferson went on to go 21-4 over its final 25 games.
“You think about it... to go 21-4 after going 0-3,” Barber said before pausing to think. “We had a difference in opinion coming into the season. That was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to this group to snap us out of it and to get the attention that was needed to get to this point.
“We maintain that point we were at after Week 1, we’re not here. We ain’t here. And everyone knows that.”
But they got here, nonetheless, the second-best team in the Division II Jefferson district.
Just a play or two short of a playing in a regional semifinal game next week in Hudson.
Peluso is a sports writer for the Star Beacon. Reach him at vpeluso@starbeacon.com.
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