VOORHEESVILLE — The team ran into some bad luck as its season came to an end in Saturday’s quarterfinal loss to Johnstown.

Johnstown, which came into the game with an overall record below .500, scored four runs in the seventh inning to pull out a 5-3 win.

The Blackbirds led, 2-1, going into the seventh inning but the Sir Bills rallied.

With one out, Garrett DeRoss blasted a triple to left-center field. But, after another strikeout by relief pitcher Pete Lindner, Ryan Brown hit a ground ball to Voorheesville first baseman Nick Duncan who threw the ball to Lindner, covering first base. The umpire called Brown safe at first.
"The umpire said the throw pulled Pete off the bag," said Voorheesville Coach Hank Czerwinski. "The tying run scored. It would’ve ended the game."

Johnstown then hit several singles and was able to add three more runs to take a 5-2 lead going into the bottom half of the last inning.
"Pete self-destructed," Czerwinski said. "We scored one run in the seventh but we got nothing more. We came in with our best pitcher and they hit him. They got to him."

Jay Conde started the game for Voorheesville but injured himself running to first base on a drag bunt. He came out after the third inning.

Andy Catellier pitched the next three innings before Lindner came into the game for the seventh.

Johnstown took the lead in the fourth inning after an error by Lindner at shortstop and a walk put runners on first and second.

R.J. Curreri then committed an error at third base on a throw to force out a runner at second base.

Voorheesville came back to tie the game in the fourth inning.

Nick Duncan hit a triple and scored on a fielder’s choice by Curreri.

Voorheesville took the lead in the fifth.

Freshman Nick Blow worked a one-out walk and moved to second on a sacrifice by sophomore Tom Pasqualli, who came in for Conde. Catellier then singled to drive in Blow and give the Birds a 2-1 lead.

Canning Cairo

The Blackbirds beat Cairo-Durham, 10-3, in the first round of the Class B playoffs. Curreri got the win on the mound pitching six innings, before Lindner pitched the seventh.

Voorheesville scored one run in the second and one in the third to take the lead. The Birds scored two in the fourth inning on a two-run home run by Catellier and then exploded for six runs in the sixth inning.

Justin Arico hit a two-run home run in the frame to pace the Blackbirds.

Voorheesville had just five hits in the contest, but took advantage of a number of walks and hit batsmen.

"Excellent season"
"Overall it was an excellent season," Czerwinski said. "I didn’t care for the outcome. It shows that even a team with a sub .500 record can win. It’s whoever is hot or lucky.
"In sectionals, you can’t commit errors," the coach added. "We committed errors and didn’t hit the ball. We had three hits."

The Birds will lose a small but talented senior class. Jake Norris, Catellier, Duncan, and Lindner will all move on.

Lindner will play baseball at Division I Stony Brook University next spring while Catellier will play football at Union College and Duncan at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.
"Overall, it was a phenomenal year," Czerwinski said. "We started 0-3 and the kids did a great job coming back. Everyone contributed. We had no one as a first-team Colonial Council all-star. It was a complete baseball team effort. We had junior-varsity kids that came up and helped tremendously."

Czerwinski said that the team has a lot to look forward to next season with just one question mark.
"Defensively and offensively, we should be fine," the coach said. "Pitching could be a problem. We don’t have a lot of guys with varsity experience. Conde and Curreri and that will be it."

But this season will have a special meaning for the program.
"It was a very good year," Czerwinski said. "We won back-to-back Colonial Council championships. I don’t know the last time that was done. But I’ve only been coaching for three years. That’s not bad, two championships in three years."