GLENS FALLS, N.Y. – Championship Series’ Most Valuable Player Ryan Nokelby (Texas Lutheran) plated Jeff Abrams (Binghamton) with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly as the Brockport Riverbats edged the Glens Falls Golden Eagles, 3-2, in 10 innings to win the 2008 New York Collegiate Baseball League championship. The Riverbats won the best-of-three series, two games to one. The title is the first in the five-year history of the franchise.
Abrams singled off Glens Falls reliever Marc Damon (Pima CC) to start the tenth inning. David Ahonen (Ithaca) advanced Abrams to second with a sacrifice bunt. Kyle Harvey (Texas Lutheran) and Billy Herman (Slippery Rock) drew back-to-back one-out walks to load the bases. Anthony Giansanti (Siena) replaced Marc Damon to face Ryan Nokelby. Nokelby hit a long fly ball to left field that was caught by Jonathan White, but Abrams scored from third to break a 2-2 tie.
The Golden Eagles threatened in the bottom of the tenth but could not score. Todd Brazeal (South Florida) worked a lead-off walk. Brazeal moved to second on a Nick McCoy (San Diego) sacrifice bunt and then to third on a Jonathan Koscso (South Florida) ground out. Brockport’s Jeremy Macklin (Huston-Tillotson) forced Curt Courtwright to ground out to second to end the game.
Macklin pitched three innings of scoreless relief. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two. Brockport starter P.J. Saporito pitched seven strong innings. Saporito yielded two runs on four hits and struck out seven. Jeff Abrams had a game-high two hits for the Riverbats and Corey Taylor (Binghamton) clubbed an RBI double.
Marc Damon suffered the hard-luck loss. He allowed one run on one hit, walked two and struck out five. Damon retired the first nine batters he faced. Starter Scott DeNault (San Diego) pitched the first six innings. DeNault gave up two runs on three hits, walked three and struck out six. Game-two hero Jonathan White (Vanderbilt) was 2-for-4 with one RBI and Chad Stang (Midland) drove in one run.
The Golden Eagles struck first in the second inning. Jonathan Koscso belted a lead-off single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and went to third on a wild pitch. Chad Stang plated Koscso with a ground out to the right side to give the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead.
Brockport plated two runs in the sixth inning to gain a one-run edge. With runners on first and second and one out, Corey Taylor smashed a Scott DeNault offering to left-center field. Ryan Nokelby scored from second to tie the game. An error on the relay attempt by Glens Falls allowed Jesse Bosnik (St. Bonaventure) to score all the way from first.
Glens Falls knotted the score at two in the seventh inning. Scott Lawson (Miami, Fla.) ripped a lead-off single to left field and went to second on a sacrifice bunt. Jonathan White slapped a game-tying single to right field that scored Lawson from second.
Notes: After the game, the league handed out its’ postseason awards. Brockport pitcher Ryan O’Rourke (Merrimack) took home the Tom Kenney Golden Glove. He pitched a two-hit shutout over seven innings in Brockport’s victory in game one. Glens Falls outfielder Jonathan White grabbed the Bob Bellizzi Big Stick. He batted .455 in the series with five hits, four stolen bases and three RBI. Championship Series’ MVP Ryan Nokelby totaled six hits in the three-game series, scored three runs and drove in two.
R H E
Brockport 3 4 0
Glens Falls 2 5 1
P.J. Saporito, Jeremy Macklin (W, 1-0) (8) and Joe Pavone. Scott DeNault (San Diego), Marc Damon (L, 1-1) (7), Anthony Giansanti (10) and Nick McCoy.
Time: 2:25, Attendance: 550
