SCHODACK — Not three days removed from a 9-3 disappointing performance at Taconic Hills High School, the Maple Hill baseball team used a 10-run first inning to power past the Cairo-Durham Mustangs Thursday at a soggy Canonica Field.
The game, wich was originally scheduled to be played on Wednesday was pushed back a day thanks to Mother Nature pounding the area with moisture, earlier in the week.
it’s said that “good things come to those who wait” and for sophomore infielder Quinn Pratico the waiting was over as he hit his first career home run, giving Maple Hill a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
“It feels great,” said Pratico post game, but the three-sport athlete sheepishly refused to take full credit for the accomplishment as the ball only went over the fence because of a Cairo outfielder’s love tap. “Ah, I’m not gonna take too much credit for it because he did help me out.”
Later in the bottom of the first, junior Alic Yager nailed a dinger of his own, without the assistance of the Cairo outfield. “First one of the season so it felt pretty good,” said a satisfied Yager. The hit capped off a Maple Hill 10-run inning, almost unrecognizable for a team that only reached double-digit scoring on three other occasions this season.
“We’ve been talking about coming out of the gate a little hotter,” head coach Rico Frese said. “In practice, we’ve been trying to address beeing a little bit more engaged in the game and a little bit more energetic early in the game so we don’t get behind.”
For the Wildcats, only allowing a single run in the 14-1 decision is a step in the right direction for a program that has allowed 73 runs this season. “Much better. When you get to sectionals, you can’t give teams extra outs and that’s really been a focal point, trying to figure out who to play where defensively,” Frese went on to say.
The two teams will meet again Tomorrow in the series finale at Cairo-Durham High School, first pitch is set for 4:15 p.m.
-Dylan Rossiter – @ByDylanRossiter – [email protected]
