By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — July 2, 2010 — The Ellenville Post 111 Cyclones got off to a good start in Tuesday night’s non-district Senior (19-and-Under) American Legion baseball game at the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) baseball field.
The Cyclones took a 2-0 lead over the visiting Hudson Valley Highlanders in the bottom of the first inning. Matt Persell scored Ellenville Post 111’s first run on a single by Jeremy DeGori. Ross Abbott scored the team’s second run when Andrew Yager grounded out.
But a two-run single by Chris Lounsbury helped Hudson Valley take a 3-2 lead in the top of the second.
After Ellenville Post 111 (7-8) took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the third, Hudson Valley, which is based in Washingtonville, responded with four runs in the top of the fourth to grab a 7-5 advantage. Hudson Valley (8-8) kept adding to its lead as the game progressed and recorded an 18-6 victory.
Ellenville Post 111, which has 13 players from Sullivan County on its 17-man roster, took a 4-3 advantage in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI double by Kenny Fisk and an error. The Cyclones then extended their lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third when DeGori, who led off the inning with a triple to deep left field, scored on a groundout by Yager.
In the top of the fourth, a three-run double by Lars Kohler allowed the Highlanders to regain the lead, 6-5. Kohler scored later in the frame to give Hudson Valley a two-run advantage when Quinn Carpenter singled to right field.
Hudson Valley stretched its lead to 11-5 in the top of the sixth. Kohler ripped a two-run double to left field to make it a 9-5 game. Kohler crossed home plate moments later on a groundout and Mike Smith scored on a passed ball to give the Highlanders their six-run advantage.
In the bottom of the sixth, Persell scored on a single by Chris Stauski to cut Ellenville Post 111’s deficit to 11-6.
The Highlanders added two runs in the top of the eighth and five runs in the top of the ninth. The eighth-inning runs were scored by Kohler and Carpenter on an error and infield hit by Steve Frey, respectively.
In the top of the ninth, Bryan Chudy hit a two-run single, Carpenter and Frey each had an RBI single and Rob Dolney scored on an error.
“We’re a good hitting team, but it took us a while to break out tonight,” Hudson Valley Coach Doug Roman said. “Playing nine innings seemed to help us. We usually play nine innings in the playoffs and seven innings in the regular season. We kept hitting in the later innings.”
Although he was hoping that starting pitcher Dan Castro would stay in the game for more than three innings, Roman was pleased to see his team get the win.
“It was a good, solid effort,” he said.
Ellenville Post 111 Coach Jed Carrier said he was “half expecting a game like this because we were coming off graduation weekend and a five- or six-day layoff.
“In a nine-inning game, you can’t execute for two or three innings and expect to pull out a win,” Carrier said. “We played good offense early, but our pitching wasn’t sharp and our defense wasn’t sharp.
“I think both teams would agree that this was a sloppy game to be involved in,” he added.
Carrier then paused and looked at the sunny skies overhead.
“About the only thing that went right tonight was the weather,” he said.
Carrier noted one positive is that the Cyclones have several home games at SCCC coming up in the next two weeks.