Plainsmen Punch Ticket to Class AA Final Four

Troy — The Shenendehowa Varsity Baseball team continued their pursuit of a state title Saturday night at The Joe in a 5-1 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse.  With this win the Plainsmen picked up a regional championship, leaving them 2 wins away from a state Title.

After a quiet start throughout 2 scoreless innings, things started to heat up in the 3rd as Cicero-North Syracuse got 1 up on the scoreboard, their first and only lead of the night. In the button of that same inning, the Plainsmen came alive scoring 2 runs, 1 upping the Northstars for the lead. From there the Plainsmen hit the gas and didn’t look back, driving hard for a 5-1 win.

Despite some sloppy fielding, the Plainsmen got it done with the sticks and the help of potential top 10 MLB Draft pick Ian Anderson on the mound.  Nick Jacques led the way for the Plainsmen off 2 runs, 2 hits and 1 RBI. Joe Fraser and Ryan Drum also drove in runs for the Plainsmen.  On the mound Anderson was lights out, delivering 16 strikeouts while only allowing 1 run and 2 hits.

After the game Shenendehowa head coach Greg Christodulu commented on his team’s slow start, “Maybe the heat was a factor…we weren’t focused, after they scored on us we fell behind and that woke them up.”

The Plainsmen will now advance to Binghamton to take on West Islip (Section 11) on Sunday at 10am.  If the Plainsmen win that one, they will play the winner of Ketcham (Section 1) and Webster Schroeder (Section 5) later that same day.