By: Aidan Joly
Strong hitting, pitching and defense, the keys of baseball, all went Saratoga’s way on Saturday afternoon against BH-BL as the Blue Streaks cruised to a victory by a final score of 9-1.
After Saratoga wasn’t able to bring runners home in the first two innings, the Blue Streak bats came alive in the third. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead as the team sent 10 batters to the plate and knocked five hits for six runs, highlighted by a two-run double from Lewi Clarke, helping the Blue Streaks grab a big advantage early and letting them relax a little bit for the remainder of the afternoon.
“Any time you get up a little bit, it’s a little less nerve-wracking,” Saratoga head coach Andy Cuthbertson said. “I thought our approach at the plate was pretty (good).”
Meanwhile on the defensive side of the ball, Matt Triola was dominant on the hill for the first four innings of the game as he flirted with a no-hitter, not allowing a hit until two outs in the fourth inning on a single from Nate Katz. He went four innings and allowed one run on two hits before being removed for Jack Cairns and later Nate Chudy, who in total tossed three scoreless innings of relief. The Spartans of Burnt Hills were only able to pick up three hits on the afternoon.
“(Triola) got a little bit wild with his secondary pitch, the curveball. He was kind of falling off the mound so he made some adjustments, and once he started throwing that for strikes, he had the hitters in his pocket,” Cuthbertson added.
Going back to the offensive side of the ball, Saratoga tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning on a two-run, inside-the-park home run from Brian Hart, his second homer of the season, which landed just in front of the wall in the deepest part of the field, falling about 370 feet from home plate. Later on, an RBI single from Jake Fauler to score Devin McArthur, who had tripled one batter before, made it 9-1.
Saturday’s game was originally supposed to be played on Friday in Burnt Hills, but was postponed, and the location was changed to Saratoga. BH-BL was the home team at Saratoga’s home field.
BH-BL falls to 1-7 on the season following the loss. They will be back in action on Monday as they take on Shenendehowa at home. That game will begin at 4:15 PM.
Saratoga improves to 8-1 on the season, one of the hottest teams in the Suburban Council. They will also play again on Monday as they face Mohonasen on the road before returning home on Wednesday against Averill Park. Both of those games are set for a 4:15 PM start time.