Ketcham erupts for seven in fourth, tops Corning in Class AAA baseball subregional

A three-hitter from Ryan Mealy and a game-breaking three-run homer from Riley Weatherwax helped Roy C. Ketcham pull away for an 11-0 victory over Corning in a New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AAA baseball subregional Thursday afternoon at Horseheads High School.

Ketcham's seven-run fourth inning turned what had been a 1-0 game into a rout. The Storm tacked on three runs in the fifth, two coming on a home run from Ole Miss commit Owen Paino, and secured a mercy-rule win when Mealy sent the Hawks down in order in the bottom of the inning.

Section 1 champion Ketcham won the Class AA state title last season and is three wins from a AAA state title after New York added a class this season.

"Proud of the boys. It's a great step, but there's certainly some things we need to improve upon moving forward," Storm head coach Pat Mealy said.

"In that fourth inning we came alive with the bats, but prior to that inning we made some uncharacteristic errors. I didn’t love our focus level and we have to be better moving forward, where we’re not going to give the opponent extra outs. We did that twice today. Down the road that could hurt us."

Championship season over for Corning

The Hawks finished at 10-12 after beating Elmira, two games to one, in the Section 4 Class AAA championship series last week.

Corning coach Eric Kizis pointed to Ketcham's talent in assessing the outcome.

"It’s a really good baseball team," he said. "Our kids came in, we fought well at the beginning. After three innings it was 1-0, but the wheels fell off a little bit and we just couldn’t stop it, we couldn’t stop the building from crumbling. Once it got the best of us it was to that point where we knew we weren’t going to be able to score enough runs and I think the kids fell apart a little bit. But at the end of the day, they’re high school kids. They fought hard all season and to win a sectional championship this year, I’m proud of them."

Right-hander Nolan Terwilliger shut out the Express in Friday's deciding game, but he struggled with command Thursday. He hit four batters and the dam finally broke open in the fourth inning before he gave way to Larsen Burch.

"Nolan struggled to hit his spots early a bit," Kizis said. "Then what he tried to do was to force the pitches, he tried to make it happen for him without it naturally happening for him and it just didn’t work. The kid pitched two phenomenal games last week and it’s hard to get right back on that. He’s had a heck of a career, a heck of a season, but they’re just good."

Pitching Star of the Game

Mealy held Corning to three singles over the five innings. He struck out five and walked one.

"My stuff didn’t feel great, but I was just trying to keep everything in the zone and make them make plays," Ryan said. "I’ve got guys behind me that make plays."

Said Pat Mealy, his dad: "He competes out there. He's always going to compete, he's going to put us in good situations. He's got a three-pitch repertoire and when he can get all three going no batters are comfortable against him."

Offensive standouts

Weatherwax added an RBI double to his homer to drive in four runs. He was 2-for-3 with two runs.

At the top of the lineup, Paino scored three times, capped by his opposite-field homer to left-center in the final frame.

Luke Picone contributed two hits for the Storm.

Carter Rosno was 2-for-2 for Corning.

Key moments

Corning had a chance to at least knot the score in the bottom of the third. With runners at first and third, Mealy induced a pop fly and first baseman Connor Durkin fought a tricky wind to make a diving catch near the foul line that ended the inning.

"We certainly gained some momentum getting out of that situation and then carrying it into the next inning," Pat Mealy said. "The bottom of our lineup all year, especially lately, has been magic for us."

The third homer this season for Penn State commit Weatherwax came from the No. 9 spot in the order. Two batters previously, Mealy lined an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Weatherwax's home run was a high fly ball to left that carried over the fence. He admitted he didn't think it was gone off the bat, adding the wind definitely provided a boost.

"Their pitcher, he couldn’t really locate his off-speed, so I was just sitting fastball," Weatherwax said. "That was my approach."

Tyler Durkin drove in two more runs in the fourth with a hard ground ball Hawks shortstop Gavin Walker couldn't come up with after ranging far to his left. Durkin scored on a wild pitch for an 8-0 lead.

"This usually happens. Once we see the pitcher one time, we get around, we start locking in and being more comfortable up there and putting at-bats together," Weatherwax said. "And once people ahead of you start getting hits, start getting on, it just feeds confidence to you."

More: Baseball: DeGroat, Wager shine as Wallkill tops Horseheads in Class AA subregional

Up Next

Ketcham (21-3) will take on Section 9 champion Newburgh (11-8) in the regional final at 4 p.m. June 1 at SUNY Purchase. Winner heads to Binghamton's Mirabito Stadium for a June 7 state semifinal. Weatherwax, who tossed a three-hitter in last year's state final, will get the call on the mound.

"Obviously we respect our opponent. Newburgh, I expect to give us a battle," Ryan Mealy said. "But I do think we are the best team in the state and we’re going to get it done."

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 Elmira Star-Gazette: Ketcham beat Corning in a NYSPHSAA Class AAA baseball subregional