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A ’Dog day afternoon
Poland outlasted Mooney to win the Division II district baseball crown.
STRUTHERS — Poland’s Trent Vallinger said he felt a fleeting moment of panic when Mooney rallied for five runs in the sixth inning to tie the Bulldogs 7-7 in Friday’s Division II district final at Cene Park.
That feeling was long gone when the junior stepped to the plate in the top of the eighth inning.
With teammate Ryan Rovnak standing on second base after hitting a one-out double, Vallinger sent a line drive single to right field to score Rovnak with the go-ahead run as Poland upended Mooney 9-7 in eight innings.
Poland advanced and will play a regional semifinal game at 2 p.m. Thursday in Hudson.
“There was a little bit of panic at first when [Mooney] tied the game,” Vallinger said. “Then we kind of got our composure back and realized we just had to keep our heads in the game.”
Vallinger said he was very focused when he came to the plate in the eighth inning
“I just wanted to help the team get a couple of runs and try to give us a comfortable lead to finish the game out,” Vallinger said. “It’s a great feeling to be standing here knowing we are going back to the regionals after three years.”
Vallinger also pitched the first five innings as the Bulldogs (15-8) built a 7-2 lead. Hedeparted in the sixth after giving up a two-run homer to Mooney freshman Nick “Boo” Vasquez and a walk to Colin Hart with one out.
The Cards (22-5) then got a walk and two RBI singles by Drew Fitzpatrick and Scott Smith to pull within 7-6 off Rovnak, who relieved Vallinger.
Mooney tied the game when Matt Durkin hit into a fielder’s choice for an RBI.
“I thought we had the momentum at that point,” said Mooney coach Al Franceschelli. “We knew we could come back. We never doubted ourselves.
“But in the end we left too many runners on base.”
Mooney stranded nine runners including two in the bottom of the sixth when Jason Simons, winner of Thursday night’s game with Crestwood, relieved Rovnak.
“We felt confident in bringing him back today to close out the game,” said Poland coach Rich Murray. “Jason’s done a great job all year, and he said he felt good so we went to him to close.”
Murray said he was concerned about his team’s fate in the sixth inning.
“After we gave up those five runs I didn’t know what to think,” Murray said. “Luckily we got out of there tied at seven, and we didn’t give up.
“We bounced right back and were able to pull it out in the eighth.”
Poland rallied from a 2-1 deficit at the end of three innings to open up the five-run lead.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the fourth after Kevin Koval walked and Ross Lopez singled Koval to third. Sean Gabriel drove in Koval with a sacrifice fly and Vallinger knocked in Lopez with a fielder’s choice groundout.
Poland scored in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by Koval that scored Matt Pitzulo and then seemingly broke open the game with a three-run sixth inning.
Vallinger had the big hit with a two-run triple and finished with four RBIs. Mark Turnbull brought Vallinger home with the Bulldogs’ third sacrifice fly of the game.
“It was a great effort,” Murray said. “These kids have been resilient all year.”
Francescelli was emotional following the game after watching his seniors round the bases for the final time in a Mooney baseball tradition.
“Overall I couldn’t be more proud of these kids,” Franceschelli said. “We set a new winning record at Cardinal Mooney, so there is a lot of positives to this season.”