POUGHKEEPSIE — It’s been a busy summer for Nick Polsinelli.

The Guilderland baseball player has been playing all summer long, representing the Adirondack region at the Empire State Games and playing for the New York Knights of the American Amateur Baseball Congress Mickey Mantle division for 15-year-old players.
"We are leaving for Oklahoma on Tuesday," Polsinelli said after Saturday night’s gold-medal game against New York City. "We just won States, and then I came to Empires."

Polsinelli and Stephen Cardinal of Voorheesville, a late replacement, helped the Adirondack team to a silver medal, coming up on the short end of a 5-2 score.

Adirondack beat the city team, 7-5, earlier in the day to earn a spot in the gold-medal game. Adirondack also beat Hudson Valley, 9-1; Western, 6-4; and Long Island, 16-7.

Adirondack’s only other loss was to Central, 8-3.
"This is a great team," Polsinelli said. "Like the Knights are a great team. I’ve had the opportunity to see the best players."
"It’s hard to win two in a row from the same team," Cardinal said after the loss. "They made some great defensive plays that stopped our momentum."

Cardinal was not even supposed to be on the team. He was selected as an alternate at catcher, but one of the two catchers on the team was injured before the Games started.
"Coach [Jesse Braverman] told me on Monday," Cardinal said. "I had a trip planned. But that’s all right; this is more important. I’ll be able to go tomorrow."

Cardinal and Polsinelli will be juniors in the fall.
"I’ll be back next year," Cardinal said.
"I’m looking forward to coming back and winning the gold next year," Polsinelli added.

Polsinelli did all he could to get the gold this year. He pitched in relief for four innings and threw a shutout for three of them.

Both Cardinal and Polsinelli are coming off varsity campaigns with their high school teams and play for a summer league teams — Polsinelli for the Knights and Cardinal for the Guilderland Blackbirds. Cardinal’s season ended a week before the Empire State Games.

But both were happy to play more baseball.
"It’s a lot of baseball," Polsinelli said. "I’m disappointed about the loss, but it was great baseball. There were great dorms and I got to meet new people."

Members of the Adirondack team played for different teams during the summer and it is hard to bring the players together, but Polsinelli said that this team worked out.
"We got along great," he said. "We clicked as a team. The whole team did. After we lost our first game, we turned it around. We definitely bounced back."
"I called it," Cardinal said.
"We all had faith," Polsinelli said.

Polsinelli plays baseball year-round and it’s his main focus. He’ll play on the Knights’ fall ball team.

Cardinal is a three-sport athlete. He plays football and wrestles, but confessess that baseball is his true passion.
"My interests have always been in baseball," Cardinal said. "Football is good, though."

Cardinal is a two-year starter at catcher for Voorheesville’s varsity team. He was a third-team all-state selection in Class B.
"I know I can do better," he said. "But I have to hit better than .373."

Both expect to be back next year to play in the Empire State Games.
"We know what to expect," Polsinelli said. "We want to win gold."