The Lake Placid baseball team celebrates with the Section VII Championship banner after defeating Crown Point in the Class D title game Thursday, May 25. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
CHAMPLAIN — For the first time in five years, the Lake Placid Blue Bombers baseball team is back at the top of Class D.
Lake Placid starting pitcher PJ Colby threw a gem Thursday and led the Blue Bombers to an 8-2 victory over the Crown Point Panthers in the Section VII, Class D tournament championship game at the Northeastern Clinton High School baseball field.
The win marked the fifth section title under longtime head coach Brian Brandes, who first won the title in 2013. Lake Placid is scheduled to take on the Section II, Class D champion in a NYSPHSAA subregional game Thursday in a Section VII host site.
In all five section wins, the Blue Bombers have not progressed through the regional or sub-regional round. Brandes said the team will prepare the same way they always prepare.
“We’re going to make sure our three pitchers are ready to pitch and make sure everyone on the field has their I and T ticked off,” Brandes said. “Everyone hits the ball and acts aggressively on the plate.”
Lake Placid’s Foster Wood swings on a field Thursday, May 25, during the Section VII, Class D championship game against Crown Point at the Northeastern Clinton baseball fields. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
Colby pitched six innings, knocking out 12 batters while giving up just one hit and one run, before Vann Morrelli came on as a backup in the last inning, giving up just one hit, one run and two batters.
Colby made an unusual start in the first inning, running the first batter before handing an RBI single to Crown Point’s Reese Pertak. He then knocked out two batters in a row to end the inning.
“You could tell PJ was throwing four balls in a row with full energy in the first inning,” Brandes said. “Then he calmed down and threw a typical PJ game. He was both outside and in the zone but he played an amazing game.”
After giving up the one run early in the first inning, Lake Placid scored two goals late in the first inning and two more runs in the second before hitting four more runs in the last three innings.
“It was a deal and they came to play,” Brandes said. “From the moment they stepped onto the field, I didn’t get the feeling that they were nervous.”
Lake Placid’s Jarrett Mihill (left) slides into home plate for a run while Crown Point’s Reese Pertak attempts to tag him during the Section VII Class D championship game Thursday, May 25. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
Max Hyman was down 1-0 at the bottom of the first inning and took the lead with a single before eventually coming on with a single from Colby. The Bombers then took the lead after Morrelli drove into Colby with an RBI single.
Lake Placid extended their lead when Hyman hit Foster Wood with a ball that went past the Panthers first basemen into the outfield. Hyman then hit an RBI double from Jon Caito.
Caito, a sophomore from Keene playing for Lake Placid, made it big on the team’s 12-goal effort. Caito had three hits – a double and two singles – while Colby, Morrelli and Max Hyman had two hits each. Wood, Owen Thomsen and Owen Hayes of the Blue Bombers each contributed a goal.
“Our bats haven’t been quiet,” Brandes said. “Our bats came in and did the job.”
Lake Placid hit back-to-back runs on RBI singles from Caito and Hayes in the fourth and fifth innings. The Blue Bombers finished the game with two more runs, with another RBI single from Caito and one from Morrelli.
PJ Colby of Lake Placid plays against Crown Point at the Northeastern Clinton High School baseball fields Thursday, May 25 during the Section VII, Class D baseball title game. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
Pertak and Evan Carey had the only goals for the Panthers. Carey threw a full game and knocked out seven batters.
Crown Point ended the season 8-6, while Lake Placid improved to 12-3 overall with the win.
Lake Placid’s Jon Caito (left) is substituted at home by Crown Point’s Reese Pertak during the Section VII, Class D championship game against Crown Point at the Northeastern Clinton baseball fields on Thursday, May 25. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
Vann Morrelli of Lake Placid of Keene plays in the final inning of the Section VII, Class D championship game against Crown Point at the Northeastern Clinton baseball fields on Thursday, May 25. (Corporate Photo – Parker O’Brien)
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