By Frank Rizzo
FALLSBURG — July 10, 2001 – Overall Record: 16–5
League Record: 9–2 OCIAA Division IV. Beat Sullivan West/Jeff-Youngsville 6-4 in a one-game playoff for the league championship.
Sectionals: Beat Spackenkill 9-6 in the Class C quarterfinals. Beat Sullivan West/Jeff-Youngsville 13-3 in the semifinals. Lost to Pine Plains 7-0 in the championship game.
Top Hitters:
AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA
Darren Kenney 66 38 34 6 0 1 16 14 .515
Mike Hernandez 69 24 34 5 0 4 32 10 .493
Joe Calvello 69 22 31 10 0 0 31 4 .449
Corey Huber 63 22 28 4 2 0 11 19 .444
Rafi Fine 69 19 29 7 2 0 16 1 .420
Mike Gilberg 78 20 28 8 1 0 17 6 .359
James Peña 32 9 12 0 0 1 9 2 .375
Austin Pantel 50 13 16 5 0 0 12 4 .320
Jeff O’Neill 61 13 19 3 1 3 20 5 .311
Top Pitchers:
IP R ER H SO BB W L ERA
Darren Kenney 62 41 25 62 79 20 7 2 2.82
Corey Huber 47.1 35 25 52 45 29 6 1 3.72
Rafi Fine 30 39 20 30 17 34 3 1 4.67
Coach Brett Cancredi cited standout games for his three starters. Kenney had a big 2-0 shutout win over Tuxedo on May 17, a six-hit, 11-strikeout outing. In the league championship playoff, Kenney came in relief of starter Corey Huber with the bases loaded and no outs and struck out the side. In the seventh inning of that 6-4 win over SW/J-Y, Kenney had runners on second and third with one out and struck out the last two batters to preserve the win.
Huber, said Cancredi, “pitched a great second game against Jeff-Youngsville. He lost, but we made defensive errors to open the game up for them. Before that, they weren’t hitting him. He also won the [sectional quarterfinal] against Spackenkill.”
Fine “pitched in some important games for us,” said Cancredi. “ Whenever we needed a third arm he was there.”
Season Highlights: “Winning the Division IV championship,” said Cancredi. “That was our goal from day one. I never expected it would take a championship game to decide it… Playing in the Section IX championship game — that was huge.”
Disappointments: “Losing to Tri-Valley (8-1 on May 24),” said Cancredi. “That was a huge letdown. We had been sitting pretty after beating Tuxedo and had to battle back after the loss.”
Cancredi also cited the Class C championship game: “Not the loss itself, but the way we played. We were better than that,” he said.
Team Awards: Kenny, as expected, was the Most Valuable Player. Most Improved went to Joe Calvello. Zach Baker got the Sportsmanship Award.
Final Thoughts: “We have 10 juniors coming back and some talent on the jayvee squad, so I don’t expect next year to be a rebuilding season,” said Cancredi. “We’ve made good improvement the past few years and I want to keep the program at a good level. Hopefully, the rebuilding years will be few and far between.”