Sixth-seed Kingston beats No. 1 Warwick for Section 9 Class AA baseball championship
Ken McMillanSAUGERTIES – There were two games taking place at the same time on Saturday: The Section 9 Class A baseball title contest between Kingston and Warwick and the intense bench jockeying between the two teams.
The insults, taunts and gibes were overflowing from the benches and only fueled groups of fans in the overhead stands at Cantine Field.
There was plenty to cheer – and jeer – for the final sectional game of the year. If anything, it pumped up Kingston hurler Derek Constance. His was not the easiest day, allowing 11 baserunners through six innings, but he allowed only two runs, and struck out 13, often directing a shout, some flexing and a glare toward the Warwick dugout with each third out put in the books.
“He needs that fire a little bit,’’ Kingston coach Rob Parisian said.
The Tigers finally gave Constance a little breathing room with two runs in the top of the seventh inning. The final out was a pop fly to right field and Constance was joined by his triumphant teammates following the 5-2 victory.
Constance said his fastball “felt really good out of my hand,’’ but was a bit inconsistent; when that happened he took a bit off the fastball and found an effective breaking ball.
Kingston has a great tradition of success in both Section 9 and formerly in Section 1 but this is not one of those record-setting seasons. The Tigers are only 13-9 but they have discovered the hot hand at the right time of the year, winning their last five – that includes a revenge playoff blowout of a Pine Bush team that already beat Kingston twice this month, a rout of Monroe-Woodbury and Saturday’s win, as a No. 6 seed, over top-seeded Warwick.
Next up is a Thursday game against the Section 1 (Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Putnam) champion on Thursday, back at Cantine; a win sets up a state quarterfinal with Section 4 champ Elmira on Saturday, again at Cantine.
Kingston scored twice in the second inning. Joey Manginelli drilled a 3-2 offering from Ryan McLaughlin to the track in center for a triple. Sophomore Jake Martino has found his game of late, dumping an RBI single to center, taking two bases on an odd passed ball and scoring on an RBI single drilled past third baseman Chase Fogg.
Warwick put its first three aboard in the third inning. Fogg won the race to home plate on a grounder by Hunter Stuart. The Wildcats tied the game in the fifth on a one-out single by Daniel Callaghan and two-out triple by Stuart.
Brady Gardner led off the Kingston sixth with a single through the right side and scored when Martino drilled an 0-2 offering to the track in left-center. In the seventh, leadoff walks issued by reliever Callaghan resulted in runs when a two-out pop fly to right was dropped.
Wariwck coach Eric Rosa said this is not the way he expected the season to end for the Wildcats (16-6), who stranded eight runners and six in scoring position.
“We just didn't get the timely hit and that was a difference,’’ Rosa said. “They get did a little more than us.’’
The Wildcats will lose seven seniors, including the leadoff four in their batting order.
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR