Baseball: Schiavone, Weatherwax shine as Ketcham edges Arlington in Section 1 quarterfinal

WAPPINGERS FALLS - Of all the nuance and complex variables that factor in the outcome of a baseball game, it's sometimes the most basic operation that makes the difference.

Like a pitcher throwing over to first base.

"We spend a good amount of time on that," Owen Paino said Wednesday, describing one of the more tedious parts of practice. "We're working on communication, holding runners, mixing up the timing. It's a big part of the game that gets overlooked."

That is, until it’s executed successfully at a critical juncture in a playoff game. Then, the mundane becomes momentous.

Paino, protecting a one-run lead in the sixth inning, erased a leadoff single with a pickoff at first, and it proved significant as the next two batters singled. In a hypothetical "If P then Q..." scenario, the game would've been tied, and the opponent would've threatened a big inning.

Instead, the pitcher escaped unscathed and Roy C. Ketcham added an insurance run, holding on for a 4-2 win over ninth-seeded Arlington in a Section 1 Class AA quarterfinal.

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Paino allowed nine hits but struck out nine and worked around two singles in the seventh inning for a complete game. Michael Schiavone was 3 for 4 with two doubles, including the go-ahead RBI in the fourth inning as top-seeded Ketcham beat the Admirals in a rematch of last year’s section final. Riley Weatherwax went 2 for 2 with a walk, a homer and two runs.

But there still was buzz afterwards about that possible season-saving pickoff.

"They had a great hitter up in Jake Manco with a fast runner on base, so I needed to keep him close," Paino said of Eric Santaella, who reached on an infield single. "We had a feeling he might be going, so I threw over and Ryan (Mealy) made a great tag."

That sigh of relief preceded another as a double play ended the frame, stranding a runner at third. A grounder to shortstop led to a force at second, but the umpire determined the lead runner slid deliberately into the fielder to prevent a throw to first and called the additional out.

Ketcham (20-1) hosts No. 4 John Jay-East Fishkill in semifinal at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Patriots edged Mamaroneck, 5-4, in their quarterfinal Wednesday.

"We're ready for it," Schiavone said of facing their intradistrict rival. "Both teams know each other really well, and these are the games you really get up for."

Ketcham advanced after being tested by another local rival, erasing an early 2-0 deficit. Arlington's Joe Ruppert and Griffin White each drove in a run in the top of the first. Paino surrendered four hits in that inning, including three liners, and it seemed the ace might not be long for this game.

"But he did a great job of settling down and doing what Owen does," Ketcham coach Pat Mealy said.

The right-hander said he was "picked up" by his offense, which bolstered his confidence. He contributed to that, too, getting Ketcham on the board with an RBI single in the first.

"It shows our resiliency," Schiavone said. "We want to be great, and great teams fight back when they fall behind. We earned ourselves another practice."

Connor Durkin drove in Kevin Camacho with a tying double in the third, and Ketcham went ahead when Weatherwax and Schiavone hit successive doubles in the fourth. Weatherwax created the margin with a long home run to center in the sixth.

"I didn't even know I had center field power," the junior said with a grin. "But I knew I got it all when I made contact."

Santaella and Manco each went 2 for 3 with a run for Arlington (11-11). Eric Servellon allowed three hits and three walks in 2 ⅓ innings, before being relieved by Liam Suozzo.

The Admirals graduated several standouts and struggled with inconsistency this spring, but the team won three straight to reach this point, including beating Suffern in the opening round.

Ketcham won their four meetings this season but, Pat Mealy said, the difference in each of those games was a big inning or a pivotal play and the teams were otherwise “about even.” Given that, he said, they anticipated a difficult matchup.

“But we have confidence in ourselves, and we had Paino on the mound,” Weatherwax said of answering Arlington’s first-inning salvo. “We knew it wouldn't keep going that way and we were gonna fight back. We're not ready for this season to be over.”

Stephen Haynes: shaynes@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4826; Twitter: @StephenHaynes4

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Baseball: Schiavone, Paino help Ketcham top Arlington in quarterfinals