Chase Regan shines as Little Falls wins Class C Section III title for first time since 2018

SYRACUSE – Chase Regan waited all evening for his pitch to hit.

He had trudged through three walks when he strode to the plate in the top of the seventh inning, his Little Falls squad up 4-1 on Bishop Ludden.

With BL starter Nolan Feidt out of the game, Regan finally obtained his golden ticket.

He smashed a triple to deep left-center, which scored two. He paraded his way home as the throw to Ludden third baseman Joe Dunham flew in high.

The three runs pushed LF’s lead to six.

Three outs later, the Mounties won their first Section III Class C championship since 2018, a 7-1 drubbing of the top-seeded Gaelic Knights Tuesday night at Onondaga Community College.

Last season, LF (19-3) lost in the first round as a two-seed in Class B, making this year’s triumph sweeter.

“We came into this year with unfinished business,” Little Falls coach Bob Gollegly said. “We had six players returning from last year, and they were not going to let something slip through their fingers again.”

Pitchers dissect offenses in first four innings

Regan drew the start for the No. 3 seed Mounties, despite spending much of the year at catcher. The senior said his nerves were low, and he wanted the ball in this moment.

Bishop Ludden (19-3) countered with Feidt, who ripped through his opponents this season to the tune of three earned runs allowed across six starts.

Gollegly asserted his team entered with a plan to fight back.

That strategy?

To be aggressive on Feidt’s fastballs. However, as Feidt tired, the coach shifted his attitude, and LF grew more selective.

On the other side, Regan ran into some trouble in the first as he walked Ludden’s first two batters. He escaped with no harm and didn’t allow another baserunner until the fourth.

Regan said he wanted to do it all on his own early but realized he needed to rely on his defense.

BL knotted the score up at one with a Mike Masterpole triple, but in the fifth, LF halted the pitcher’s duel.

Mounties grasp control in fifth

Wyatt Beadle, as he has so often, began the rampage with a lead-off triple. He later scored on a wild pitch, and the Mounties reclaimed the lead.

Morotti then drove in his second run of the evening, and Sammy Phillips brought him home.

The inning ended with a 4-1 LF lead.

Two of the runs that inning resulted from smart base running. Gollegly said that serves as high priority for the team.

“Great base runners anticipate things, and I think we did that today,” he said. “We pride ourselves on that. Those are little things we can control.”

Throughout the game, Gollegly reminded his group to stay the course. With a section title under his belt, he knows these games are grinds.

“That baseball team is very good, and we knew anything we got from them, we were going to have to take it,” he said.

Regan rolls into the history books

On the mound, Regan noted he pitched more relaxed after the three-run inning.

‘Hits are contagious in baseball,” Regan said. “When one person gets a hit, that gets a team going and kills their team.”

Regan blew the doors open in the seventh, and the Mounties clinched the dub on a phenomenal diving grab from shortstop Dom Izzo.

As a converted pitcher, Gollegly said Regan delivered everything LF craved and then some.

“He’s everything that I want in a player,” Gollegly said. “He’ll do everything I ask, and he’s been working since November for this moment, and now he has it.”

What's next?

For the first time in a half-decade, the Mounties will play in Class C Regionals.

They’ll face Section VI champion Watkins Glen/Odessa-Montour on Saturday at either Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton or Maine-Endwell High School. First pitch remains TBD.

WG/OM (11-9) defeated Bainbridge-Guildford Friday in the Class C Final.

Noah Ram is the sports reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Noah Ram at nram@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Little Falls won its first Section 3 crown in a half-decade behind Chase Regan's brilliance