Baseball: Eastchester strikes early and hangs on to defeat Fox Lane 6-4 for Class AA title
PURCHASE – Eastchester’s shutout streak may be over but if you ask any of the Eagles’ players, the only thing that mattered was winning the Section 1 title.
“If we won 1-0 or we got no-hit and won on a passed ball, it doesn’t matter,” Eastchester senior Aidan Schultz said. “A win’s a win, honestly.”
Mission accomplished.
Behind six first-inning runs and an MVP pitching effort from senior Jason Ugalde, the Eagles held off a gritty Fox Lane team 6-4 in the Section 1 Class AA championship game.
The section title was Eastchester's first since 2005.
It was also fitting the Eagles received the Dom Cecere Trophy following the emotional victory.
The sectional trophy is named after the late Eastchester coach, who died in 2017 of pancreatic cancer after amassing a state-recod 737 wins over 52 seasons coaching Eastchester.
“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Schultz said of the section title. “This is probably the best day of my life. Winning the first title in 19 years and with the trophy being the Dom Cecere Trophy, too, it just means a lot to the Eastchester community. The first one for coach (Jesse) Waters. The first of many, hopefully.”
Eagles strike early
Eastchester jumped all over Fox Lane starting pitcher Mark Schwartz in the top of the first inning, scoring six runs.
Matt Porcello, Brady Dunleavy and Blake Gessa each had RBI singles. Jayden Cassese scored on a wild pitch. Tristen Fucci walked with the bases loaded and Schultz was hit by a pitch with the bases full.
“Those were huge, especially because the last few games we scored one or two runs,” Ugalde said of the early run support. “Once we got six, I was really confident on the mound. I knew we had it.”
With just one out still in the first, Fox Lane ace Tyler Renz came on in relief, got out of the jam and, despite a heavy workload leading up to the championship game, pitched the rest of the way.
“It completely wasn’t our plan to have him come in that early,” Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis said of the St. John's commit. “We were hoping to get through maybe three innings and then go to him. But he was up for the task.”
Ugalde had Fox Lane’s number up until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Foxes broke through with a run to cut it to 6-1.
In the previous inning, Ugalde got out of a no-outs, bases-loaded jam. He recorded a strikeout and then induced a 5-4-3 double play to escape with third baseman Schultz firing to second baseman Cassese, who threw to a stretching Porcello at first base.
P.J. Stonsby roped an RBI single for the Foxes in the sixth to break up the Eagles’ shutout streak. They had not allowed a run in their first three games of the playoffs.
It got interesting in the bottom of the seventh when Bradley Patterson’s RBI single trimmed Eastchester’s lead to 6-2.
Ugalde then struck out Logan Mammola for the first out. Will Rudolph’s RBI groundout made it 6-3. Peter Portgues followed with an RBI single and went to second on an error.
But Ugalde settled down to record the final out on a fly to left and the celebration commenced.
“We punched first and we were like, ‘They’re gonna punch back eventually,’ ” Schultz said. “They put a scare in us, I’m not gonna lie. But I had all the faith in Jason. He was confident and wasn’t showing any emotion out there. He was just stone-faced and he got out of it.”
Ugalde admitted he was fatigued in the final inning but said. “You’ve just got to take a deep breath, reset and throw strikes,” he said.
Pitching and defense wins games and the Eagles are built around that and then some. To get to the championship game they recorded three straight shutouts in wins over Lincoln (10-0, opening round), Harrison (2-0, quarterfinals) and top-seeded Mahopac (1-0, semifinals).
Fox Lane had had a magical playoff run with numerous close games. The Foxes edged Carmel 3-2 in the first round, rallied to beat Clarkstown South 7-6 in the quarterfinals and topped Clarkstown North 10-5 in the semifinals.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the run that we went on,” Hillis said. “They were awesome. The most important thing is that they were just an unbelievable group to work with every single day.”
What it means
The Eagles, who were the runner-up to Somers for the 2022 Section 1 Class A title, receive a bye into the Class AA state regional final, where they will meet either Section 4’s Horseheads or the Section 9 champion on June 1.
If Section 4 wins, the game will be at Union-Endicott High School. If Section 9 is victorious, the game will be played at Cantine Field in Saugerties.
Player of the game
Ugalde was named the game’s MVP after a gutsy effort on the hill. He was at his best in the biggest moments, most notably in closing things out in the seventh.
The senior co-captain scattered five hits, struck out five, walked six and allowed four earned runs.
“He has this sense of aura to him,” Schultz said of Ugalde. “He just gets the ball and if he misses a pitch, he’s like, 'Alright, next pitch.' He has a short-term memory, which is great. He’s a phenomenal pitcher.”
By the numbers
No. 4 Eastchester (16-8): The Eagles scored all the runs they needed in the first inning on the Porcello, Dunleavy and Gessa RBI singles, the Fucci bases-loaded walk and Schultz's bases-loaded HBP.
No. 2 Fox Lane (16-8): Renz was dominant in relief, tossing 6.2 innings while allowing no earned runs. He struck out 12, walked two and allowed just one hit. Peter Portugues, Rudolph, Patterson and Stonsby each had an RBI.
They said it
“This team has been gritty and gutty all year long. I expected nothing less. We knew we weren’t out of this thing. One key hit here or there, it flips it around including that last inning," Hillis said.
The Eagles' history together is longer than high school, Schultz and Ugalde pointed out, making the title win even sweeter.
"It’s just a bunch of guys that have been playing together since they were 4 or 5 years old, just bonding together. Everyone wanted to win," Schultz said.
“This is my third year back here (in the finals). We lost it twice my freshmen and sophomore year, but it feels amazing to happen now," Ugalde said. "We’ve all been playing together since T-ball. It’s great to finally come together and win it all."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Baseball: Eastchester, with 6 runs in first, tops Fox Lane for AA crown
