High School Sports

Six takeaways from the first week of Suburban Council baseball

The first week of Suburban Council baseball action is in the books, and we’re starting to see how the league will shape up for the 2017 season. Here’s six of my observations from the first slate of games.

Saratoga has had the tools, and now they’re putting it together.

First, we’ll start off with the team that I cover, Saratoga. This team has gone into this year very excited about their pitching staff which boasts 13 pitchers, the most in the Suburban Council. Sure, the team doesn’t really have the “it” factor on the mound that they have been used to in the past couple of years with Danny Hobbs, but pitchers Keegan Leffler and Zach Vavasour have fit in very nicely filling that slot. They have the pieces on the offensive side of the ball as well, which has led them to a very impressive 5-1 start to the season. They made the sectional semifinals last season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go farther than that this year.

Guilderland can make some noise.

Guilderland was another squad that lost in the sectional semifinals last season, and they return with most of their core. They entered this season with a chip on their shoulder having lost to eventual State Champion Shenendehowa in the sectional semis. The Dutchmen opened up some eyes in their season opener on April 11 when they beat Shen in the rematch of that playoff game last May. A big part of this team will be the pitching of Hunter Harris, who threw a complete game in the win against Shen and had a very strong start against Shaker on Monday despite the loss as he threw six innings. This is another team that has the potential to make a deep sectional run.

Niskayuna is an under-the-radar team.

This is a team that did struggle last year and were shown the door in the first round of the playoffs. However, things could be very different this year. They return two big pieces to this year’s team from last year, Ben Funyak and Alec Ritzenhaler, who are both just juniors this year. In addition, this is a very much senior-led team with four college commits: Nick Insognia (Stony Brook), Angelo Spataro (SUNY Brockport), Tyler Senecal (Corker College) and Matt Toy (Union). This team is very good on the offensive side of the ball which they have shown so far this year, having scored six or more runs in three of their first four games, albeit one of them was a non-league game but still above average. Under first-year head coach Chris Bianchi, this could be a scary team come mid-May.

Shenendehowa will miss Ian Anderson.

You knew this one was going to be here. This team has somewhat limped to a 2-3 start to the year despite having an above-average offense. Their problem is that they don’t have the superstar they had last year, 2016 MLB draft 3rd overall pick Ian Anderson, on the mound. Brendan Spulnick did pitch well against Saratoga but they still lost on a walk-off home run in extra innings. Brandon Roberts, who is without question the ace of the Plainsmen staff, threw a no-hitter against Averill Park, which is impressive in and of itself, but they are only Class A, so it’s not a top-notch opponent. This team’s only two wins this year have come against Averill Park (as mentioned) and Columbia. Shen will be Shen as always, but I don’t see them defending their sectional title.

CBA and Colonie are the teams to beat.

These two, in my opinion, could make up the sectional final. CBA made the sectional final last season and retains most of their core for this season, which is always a good recipe for winning. They are off to a 4-0 start, and all signs point to them making another deep playoff run. With Colonie, this is a very good all-around team. This year, they returned arguably the best pitcher in the league with Ryan Lambert, who is complemented well by Spencer Wall. On offense, AJ Mazzone and David Kruzinski will lead. However, if I had to pick one, I would take CBA.

I like the new pitch count rules.

When the pitch-count rules were put in place by NYSPHSAA in January, I thought it would be something interesting to see play out during the season (I even wrote a column about it). Seeing it having been put into effect in the past few weeks, it’s a very nice change that improves pitching and keeps games entertaining due to coaches having to keep future games in mind while managing pitch counts mid-game. It’ll really be something to watch for once playoffs start up in about a month. Yes, we’re already that close.

Aidan Joly

Aidan Joly is Senior Managing Editor of The Upstate Courier. In the past, he has been a beat reporter covering Section II Athletics, Siena College men's basketball, the Tri-City ValleyCats, and the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. In Aidan's current role, he oversees game coverage and content. Aidan is a native of Saratoga Springs and a graduate of Saratoga Springs High School.

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