VOORHEESVILLE — The Voorheesville baseball team has put itself in position to win its second consecutive Colonial Council crown.

But getting it won’t be easy.

The Blackbirds have overcome some early season struggles and were 12-6 overall and had a 9-4 record in the league heading into Wednesday’s game at Cobleskill.
"We are holding it together," said Voorheesville Coach Hank Czerwinski. "Hopefully, we can keep it going. Basically, it is a must win for the rest of the season. We’re in first place because Lansingburh lost to Mechanicville. We’re up by one game, and we have ’Burgh on Friday."

The Blackbirds have been plagued with injuries this season.
"Just about every kid has had an injury this season," Czerwinski said. "We’ve had freshmen and sophomores step up. We started off with 12 kids and we had two leave in ambulance rides [with injuries]. That left us with 10 on the varsity."

Voorheesville is getting good pitching performances this season from senior Pete Lindner, junior R.J. Curerri, and sophomore Jay Conde.
"They have been pitching well," Czerwinski said. "Hopefully, they can keep it up for the rest of the season and in sectionals.
"Conde has a 3-1 or a 4-1 record for us," Czerwinski added. "Pitching has been a big key for us."

Dan Healy has moved up to the varsity to play catcher for the injured Stephen Cardinal, who was an all-league player last season. Jake Vandervort and Nick Blow have played in the outfield after being called up to the varsity.

Sophomore Chris Massaroni is batting over .400 in his first varsity season.

The Blackbirds are also getting big hits from Lindner, who went five-for-five with a grand slam in Monday’s game against Albany Academy.

Monday’s 16-4 win over Academy was the third in four games for the Blackbirds. They lost to Cohoes last week, but beat Ravena and Mechanicville.
"Against Academy, we busted out," Czerwinski said. "We hit two grand slams."

After Wednesday’s game, the Birds are scheduled to play Lansingburgh on Friday; Saratoga Spa Catholic, in a non-league game, on Saturday; and Broadalbin-Perth on Monday. The Birds wrap up the season with a make-up game against Cohoes at home on Tuesday.

Though Czerwinski said his team has to win every game for the rest of the season to clinch the league title, he knows that anything can happen.
"It’s high-school baseball," the coach said. "On any given day anything can happen. We go up to Cohoes and their kid three-hitted us. We just have to keep our focus and, hopefully, good things will come."