Depew denies Lansing Class B baseball state title with comeback victory

The type of late-inning magic that propelled the Lansing baseball team into the Class B state final worked against the Bobcats on Saturday.

Trailing by three runs, Section 6 champion Depew scored four times in the sixth inning and denied the Bobcats in the seventh after a leadoff double to claim the New York State Public High School Athletic Association title by a 5-4 margin at Binghamton University.

Josh Toolen's bases-loaded walk with two outs drove in the tying run and Eric Woodley was hit by a pitch to force home the go-ahead run.

The Bobcats were on the winning side of these types of games in their previous two contests.

Lansing scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to rally for a 4-3 win over Skaneateles in the regional final and three in the sixth Friday to come back for a 3-2 semifinal win over Albertus Magnus. The big hit didn't materialize in the final, with senior star Zack Sperger left at second after leading off the seventh with a double.

"My heart just goes out for our kids," Lansing coach Brett Hotchkiss said. "They put in the time, they put in the effort, they do just about everything right. But the hard part is you've got to play seven innings in a baseball game and today we just didn't have seven collective innings that led to a victory. It's definitely disappointing."

What It Means

The Bobcats finished with an 18-5 record after opening the season 5-4. Lansing made it to the state final as a No. 6 seed in the Section 4 Class B tournament and without winning its division in the Interscholastic Athletic Conference.

This year's group was seeking to join the unbeaten 2012 team as Lansing state champions.

Depew finished with a 25-1 record and won its first state title.

"That’s baseball. We were the better team and I think that’s something we need to know," Sperger said. "We weren’t supposed to be here – six seed in our section. Upset I don’t even know how many teams. We come out here and we play good baseball for most of the game. We beat them five out of seven innings, but they do good in two innings and they win it. That’s baseball."

Lansing Players of the Game

• Sperger closed a brilliant high school career by going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. He pitched a five-hitter Friday in the semifinal victory.

• Korbin Lovejoy went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI for Lansing.

• Bode Petrich was also 2-for-3, including a two-run single to give Lansing the lead in the opening inning.

• Bobcats starter Ryan Pettograsso-Houk held Depew to one run through five innings. He left the mound with a 4-3 lead and two on in the sixth. He was charged with all five Depew runs.

Depew Players of the Game

• Junior right-hander Chistopher Kanick picked up the win. He gave up eight hits, struck out six and surrendered four runs (three earned) over six innings.

• Daniel Reese earned the save and went 1-for-3 with an RBI. He induced two high fly balls to right field before getting a strikeout on a called third strike to strand Sperger at second and end the game.

• Anthony Weber and Woodley each doubled and drove in a run.

Anatomy of the winning inning

Depew's four-run sixth began with back-to-back walks from Weber and Justin Refermat. Following a flyout to center, Reese singled home Weber to make it 4-2.

Lansing's bid to turn two on a ground ball off the bat of Jacob Scibetta led to a third Depew run on a wide throw. After Tyler Karnyski's single, Hotchkiss turned to eighth-grader Logan Mayo. He walked Tyler Pagano on a 3-2 pitch before walking Toolen on five pitches for the tying run and hitting Woodley on the first pitch for the go-ahead run. Mason Braid came in to get the final out of the inning on a fly ball.

"I thought we were pretty close to having a third strike here, a ball in play there that we just didn’t quite get," Hotchkiss said. "You try to put yourselves in a position to win. Kind of a high-leverage situation and we just didn’t perform collectively in that situation today. It’s incredibly unfortunate and as a coach, you make a decision here, a decision there. You’re going to look good when it goes well and you’re not going to when it goes the other way. With that being said, a great collective effort for our guys this season though it ends in a difficult loss."

Hotchkiss said the pitching scenario had been scripted out and the decision to take out Pettograsso-Houk came down more to wanting a different look for the top of Depew's order than his pitcher getting tired.

"I thought he made some great pitches in there that I thought got us out of the inning, which clearly didn't," Hotchkiss said of Mayo.

More on Bobcats' success

Lansing played through adversity on its way to the final day of the season. Mike Herzog, who had been the team's pitching coach before this season, died May 16 of leukemia at age 61.

Sperger said that lit a fire under the team and said the Bobcats' camaraderie played a large role in their success. He was Lansing's only senior.

"No one expected it obviously and it really sucks to come this far and lose a heartbreaker, especially a game that we think we played pretty good in," Sperger said. "We really just beat ourselves up in the sixth inning. That part sucks. We deserved to be here and we were the only ones who knew that. We proved a lot of people wrong. Second in the state is pretty damn good."

Sperger closes storied career

Sperger's senior season included four complete games in four starts during sectional and state play. Last year he earned the win in the Section 4 Class C final as Lansing beat Elmira Notre Dame and star pitcher Owen Stewart, who had one of the best statistical seasons in New York history. Next step in baseball will be Division I UMass-Lowell.

After a lengthy chat with his players in the outfield following the loss, Hotchkiss continued to talk with Sperger for about 10 minutes.

"Looking what he’s put together in the playoffs this year is just impressive in my mind," Hotchkiss said. "He beats Waverly 7-0 in the first one, he throws a great game against Chenango Forks, he hangs us in until our offense is able to produce enough against Skaneateles. The game he threw (Friday) was just tremendous. He’s just a fierce competitor. He’s etched his name in our history and I would think section history with what he’s done and what he’s put together, especially in this run right here."

Sperger said as a little kid he watched the Lansing varsity players go to states, bus packed, large crowd behind them. He said it meant "everything" to him to be part of the program.

"I just wanted to be that and to be here, it's surreal," he said.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Depew edged Lansing for NYSPHSAA Class B baseball title