By: Aidan Joly
“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
That could be the motto of Thursday’s (May 4) game between Saratoga and CBA varsity baseball at East Side Rec, as CBA came out on top 6-5 in a thriller.
CBA trailed 5-4 entering the top of the seventh inning, three outs away from heading back to Albany with a loss. The Brothers rallied to eventually wind up with runners on second and third but down to their final out of the afternoon. Adam Zebrowski stepped up to the plate having struck out in his previous two at-bats.
On the third pitch, Zebrowski crushed one to centerfield that got over the head of Brian Hart, allowing both runners to score and make the game 6-5 in favor of the Brothers.
“I really didn’t try to think about [the situation] too much. I just tried to swing the bat, not think about too much mechanically, just swing and put a ball in play,” Zebrowski said.
“This is a huge win for us. Our guys showed that they can battle, and it puts us in the driver’s seat,” CBA head coach Casey O’Connor said.
Things started out very well for CBA as they scored four runs in the second inning to give them a 4-0 advantage on RBIs courtesy of Nick Marola and Nick Melillo, as well as the momentum early on in the contest. However, it would be short lived as two innings later, Saratoga took a 5-4 lead after getting one back in the second then scoring four more in the third, two runs being batted in by Brian Hart who ripped a triple into the gap followed by an infield single from Brad Hipsley that tied the game, and he was followed up by a Peter Herman RBI single that gave Saratoga the lead three batters later.
Saratoga held onto that 5-4 lead until the seventh inning on the arm of Jack Cairns, who only had allowed one hit in the fifth and sixth innings combined. Saratoga did manage a runner on in the bottom of the seventh but it would not matter as Saratoga could not pull off another win.
“We’ve been in the walk-off situation and we’ve been successful, and we’ve been in a lot of ballgames late where we’ve been successfully the winner, and this was a case where we were in the game late and unfortunately we didn’t have the magical bottom of the seventh,” Saratoga head coach Andy Cuthbertson said.
With this win, CBA improves to 12-2 on the season, and looks primed for a deep run in sectionals. They will be back in action on Monday as they take on Schenectady on the road at Central Park. That game is set for a 4:30 PM start. They return home on Wednesday as they face Albany. That one will begin at 4:15 PM.
Saratoga falls to 13-3 on the season. They will play also be back in action on Monday for a tilt with Niskayuna on the road before returning home on Wednesday, facing Shaker. First pitch for both of those games will be 4:15 PM.