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BINGHAMTON — When the final out dropped into Medina catcher Hadrian Batista’s glove to clinch the program’s first ever trip to the state title game, Batista sprinted into his pitcher Preston Woodworth’s arms and they embraced.
But after the team came together in a group embrace, it was all business. The players walked off the field, together celebrating but the team has one game to go and it’s the biggest game in the history of the program, the state title game.
The win sends Medina to its first ever state title game and pushes its record out to 22-2 overall.
The road there was helped by another dominant day from Woodworth.
One start after coming up an out shy of a perfect game, Medina turned to Woodworth to try and replicate that performance and in turn send the team to the state title game.
While the junior was dominant again. It helps when he gets plenty of run support both from himself and his teammates. It is what made the difference in a 9-0 win over Utica Notre Dame Friday at Binghamton University’s Bearcat Baseball Complex.
“(We have the) same mindset. Throw strikes and put the ball in play and hopefully we come out with the dub,” junior Preston Woodworth said.
That mindset worked for Woodworth and his teammates. It is what allowed him to help his team be one of the last two teams standing. Woodworth got the ball because tomorrow’s not guaranteed and he did his job.
He repeated something he has done all year long, pitch his team to a win. He showed up when his team needed to and now his team has made history.
On the mound, the hurler pitched a complete game shutout while giving up three hits, while striking out nine hitters and walking two hitters. At the plate, Woodworth went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. The shutout is Woodworth’s 10th of the season in 13 appearances.
Woodworth said his performance came from using his fastball velocity to his advantage as he struggled with his slider.
In the first inning, Medina stranded Woodworth on third but the rest of the lineup went down on 14 pitches and in the dugout the team was talking about how they were having trouble picking the ball up out of the Jugglers pitcher Owen Bougourd’s hand.
“I feel like we always tend to struggle the first time around,” Woodworth said. “But the second time around, he was just leaving everything down the middle, just doing the little things right and the hitting part.”
But the team figured it out in the second inning, thanks in part to the bottom of the order stepping up.
The biggest hit of the game came from the bottom of the order when in the second inning, Ryan Pegelow came up with the bases loaded and lined a bases-clearing triple down the right field line to push his team in front 3-0. Pegelow finished his penultimate game going 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. The bottom three hitters in the Medina order combined to go 1-for-7 with four runs and three RBIs.
“It’s very important,” Pegelow said about the team’s production from the bottom of the order. “I mean you have to hit one through nine. That's just what you have to do, you have to get all the hitters hitting. So it’s very important.”
Now, Medina gets to wait and see who it will play between the winner of the game between Chester and Center Moriches at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“Tomorow it’s going to be the same thing,” Medina head coach Chris Goyette said. “We’re going to be facing a really quality team. Both these teams out here now are really good teams. They have a lot more kids than we do but again it’s baseball and that’s why you come out here and compete for seven innings in every pitch and every at-bat. That’s all I ask them do, just play hard for seven innings and whatever happens, happens.”
Continue reading...
But after the team came together in a group embrace, it was all business. The players walked off the field, together celebrating but the team has one game to go and it’s the biggest game in the history of the program, the state title game.
The win sends Medina to its first ever state title game and pushes its record out to 22-2 overall.
The road there was helped by another dominant day from Woodworth.
One start after coming up an out shy of a perfect game, Medina turned to Woodworth to try and replicate that performance and in turn send the team to the state title game.
While the junior was dominant again. It helps when he gets plenty of run support both from himself and his teammates. It is what made the difference in a 9-0 win over Utica Notre Dame Friday at Binghamton University’s Bearcat Baseball Complex.
“(We have the) same mindset. Throw strikes and put the ball in play and hopefully we come out with the dub,” junior Preston Woodworth said.
That mindset worked for Woodworth and his teammates. It is what allowed him to help his team be one of the last two teams standing. Woodworth got the ball because tomorrow’s not guaranteed and he did his job.
He repeated something he has done all year long, pitch his team to a win. He showed up when his team needed to and now his team has made history.
On the mound, the hurler pitched a complete game shutout while giving up three hits, while striking out nine hitters and walking two hitters. At the plate, Woodworth went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. The shutout is Woodworth’s 10th of the season in 13 appearances.
Woodworth said his performance came from using his fastball velocity to his advantage as he struggled with his slider.
In the first inning, Medina stranded Woodworth on third but the rest of the lineup went down on 14 pitches and in the dugout the team was talking about how they were having trouble picking the ball up out of the Jugglers pitcher Owen Bougourd’s hand.
“I feel like we always tend to struggle the first time around,” Woodworth said. “But the second time around, he was just leaving everything down the middle, just doing the little things right and the hitting part.”
But the team figured it out in the second inning, thanks in part to the bottom of the order stepping up.
The biggest hit of the game came from the bottom of the order when in the second inning, Ryan Pegelow came up with the bases loaded and lined a bases-clearing triple down the right field line to push his team in front 3-0. Pegelow finished his penultimate game going 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs. The bottom three hitters in the Medina order combined to go 1-for-7 with four runs and three RBIs.
“It’s very important,” Pegelow said about the team’s production from the bottom of the order. “I mean you have to hit one through nine. That's just what you have to do, you have to get all the hitters hitting. So it’s very important.”
Now, Medina gets to wait and see who it will play between the winner of the game between Chester and Center Moriches at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“Tomorow it’s going to be the same thing,” Medina head coach Chris Goyette said. “We’re going to be facing a really quality team. Both these teams out here now are really good teams. They have a lot more kids than we do but again it’s baseball and that’s why you come out here and compete for seven innings in every pitch and every at-bat. That’s all I ask them do, just play hard for seven innings and whatever happens, happens.”
Continue reading...
