By Rob Potter
ELDRED — April 27, 2001 – Visiting Fallsburg took advantage of several Eldred errors to record a 14-2 victory in Wednesday’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV game.
The Comets also helped themselves by dropping in a few timely hits to support the strong pitching of Corey Huber.
After taking advantage of one Eldred error in the top of the first to record one run and scoring two more runs due to Yellow Jacket miscues in the third inning, Fallsburg (3–1, 1–0 Division IV) added four runs in the fourth inning. Huber, who reached base on an error, and Darren Kenney, who walked, both scored on a bloop single to center field by Joe Calvello.
The next two batters in the Comet line-up, Mike Hernandez and Rafi Fine, followed with RBI singles to give Fallsburg a 7-0 lead.
Fallsburg really broke the game open in the next frame, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs. That gave the Comets a 14-0 lead.
Eldred (0–3, 0–2 Division IV) responded in the bottom of the fifth by scoring its only two runs of the contest. With the bases loaded and one out, Devan Weyant hit a high pop-up between first and second base. Weyant was immediately called out due to the infield fly rule, but teammate Tom Butler, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice, scored from third when the pop-up was dropped.
Two batters later, Stephen Degerdon drew a bases-loaded walk that allowed John Tice to cross the plate for the second Yellow Jacket run.
“We definitely hit the ball well today,” Fallsburg coach Brett Cancredi said. “We didn’t know exactly what Eldred had. But it was our first league game and we knew we had to play hard. It was good to get the win.”
Cancredi also praised the work of Huber on the mound. Huber went the distance and allowed only three hits. He struck out nine Yellow Jackets and walked five.
Cancredi said Huber “definitely pitched better” than he had in previous outings.
“He was in the strike zone pretty much all game,” Cancredi commented. “In that one inning, he had a little control problem. But he was able to get himself out of it.”
Eldred coach Frank Kean was disappointed by his squad’s miscues. The Yellow Jackets committed seven errors on the afternoon.
“We have a young squad and they’re not concentrating for all seven innings,” Kean said. “Those little hits start falling in and then they turn into big hits. And all of that leads to runs (for the other team.)”
Kean also noted that his team has only been outside to practice on the field for just over a week. The veteran coach said he is “still trying to build a pitching staff.”
“In past years, we’ve never been good until half the season is over and then we start playing (better) baseball,” Kean added. “Hopefully that will happen this season.”
Degerdon pitched five innings for the Yellow Jackets, striking out five and walking five. Wayne McKinley held Fallsburg scoreless over the last two innings while striking out four batters and walking one.
Notes: Calvello had two hits and two RBI for the Comets while Rafi Fine added two hits and one RBI. John Schneider doubled for Eldred.