Thursday, August 14, 2014 Page B1
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Local sluggers win big in Cooperstown By Ken Katzman sports@riverdalepress.com
T
he South Riverdale Animals travel baseball team won the Cooperstown Backyard Baseball Wood Classic 14-and-under tournament this past weekend in Laurens, New York, which is just outside Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. It is the team’s first tournament win after many second- and thirdplace finishes over the past few years. In the first game of the tournament, the Animals faced the Mid-Atlantic Shockers from southern Maryland. Things started slowly for the Animals, with the Shockers scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning. The Animals finally broke through with three runs in the top of the third. Connor McKeown led off with a walk and then Ike Fields followed with a single. A wild pitch by the Shockers moved the runners up to second and third. Kenneth Rodriguez hit a sharp groundout to the shortstop, which allowed McKeown to score. Danny Moynihan then crushed a two-run home run to dead centerfield. The moon shot put the Animals ahead, 3-2. The Shockers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on an unearned run. Both teams failed to generate any offense over the last two innings and the game ended in a 3-3 tie. McKeown and Rodriguez, the pitchers for the Animals, allowed only two hits to the Shockers. The second game, played against CNY Arsenal from Syracuse, was a decidedly one-sided affair. After the Animals scored twice in the first inning, Steven Stavrianopoulos led off the third inning with a single and then stole second base. With two outs, Jonathan Katzman singled to right field to score Stavrianopoulos. An inning later, Jonathan Sherman and Adam Berni each had RBI hits as the Animals extended their lead to 5-0. Zack Farber, Griffin O’Keefe, and Lucas Ludgate were among five Animals that scored during the fourth inning. With the score 10-0, the tournament mercy rule was put into effect. Moynihan, the Animals’ starter, allowed only one hit and threw 43 pitches in the game’s four innings.
Photos by Marisol Díaz
DANNY ‘SCOOBY’ MOYNIHAN gets back to second safely in the bottom of the first inning against the Arsenal during Animals’ second game on Saturday. TREE COVERED mountains of Otsego County form a dramatic backdrop for starting pitcher Danny ‘Scooby’ Moynihan during the Arsenal game, far left photo. STEVEN ‘SNUFFY’ STAVRIANOPOULOS completes the running portion of the skills test at the Cooperstown Backyard Classic on Saturday in near left photo.
Semifinal blowout The Animals and the Shockers both ended the playoff seeding round with 1-0-1 records. With the tiebreaker going to the team with the least runs allowed, the Animals claimed the top seed. Arsenal received the lowest seed in the tournament, resulting in the Animals facing them for the second straight day — this time in the semifinals. As Yogi Berra would say, it was “déjà vu all over again” as the Animals defeated the Arsenal in another 10-0 mercy contest. Nine Animals scored a run in the victory. The game was particularly special for Animals starting pitcher Sherman, who threw a four-inning no-hitter. He struck out four, and only one ball was hit out of the infield.
STARTING PITCHER Jonathan ‘ Sherminator’ Sherman warms up for playoff game.
Sweet victor y
JONATHAN ‘JJ’ KATZMAN and Adam ‘Hulk’ Berni in the dugout.
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BRIAN ‘HEADS’ ALBERTS takes batting practice on Saturday afternoon.
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After the Shockers defeated the Cubs, a team from Canada, in the second semifinal, the Animals and Shockers were set up for a rematch with the tournament championship at stake. In the top of the first inning, the Shockers loaded the bases (Continued on page B9)