It may not have been the way that Rye Neck drew it up, it may not have been like anything anyone at the Purchase College baseball field has seen before or will see again. But no matter how bizarre the ending of Saturday night’s Section I Class B finals between the Panthers and Westlake might have been, one thing is for certain; Rye Neck isn’t complaining.
On May 28, in the bottom of the eighth inning of a tied ballgame between the Wildcats and the Panthers, Westlake was called for catcher’s interference in two straight at-bats—the second coming with the bases loaded—to force in the title-clinching run for the Panthers. Rye Neck head coach Joe Carlucci saw batter Eli Goldman’s swing clip the glove of catcher Josh Gelman and realized his team had orchestrated perhaps the strangest 3-2 victory in Section I championship game history.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that happen twice to end a game,” said Carlucci. “But we’ll certainly take it.”
Sam Dalsimer, who started on the mound for the Panthers said he was still having a hard time wrapping his head around that final sequence even after the Panthers’ received their championship trophy.
“That was the craziest ending to a game I’ve ever seen,” he said. “We saw the first one and you’d think that the catcher would move back after that, but he didn’t.”
Dalsimer was named the game’s MVP despite not factoring in the decision, allowing two runs over seven innings of work and striking out five batters to keep the Panthers within striking distance.
“I have so much confidence in my defense and they did a great job today,” said the senior right-hander. “I didn’t strike out a lot of guys, they were putting the ball in play, but we made the plays we needed to.”
After Westlake struck for two early runs against Dalsimer, the Panthers tied the game with runs in the fifth and sixth innings, sending the game to extra innings where the senior gave way to eighth-grader Davey Ryan who tossed a scoreless eighth inning.
Ryan—who has been a revelation for the Panthers this year—was then forced to leave the game in the bottom half of the frame when he was struck by a pitch in the face during an at-bat.
“Our immediate concern was just ‘is he going to be OK,’ but then we knew we had to win it for him,” said Dalsimer. “If you met this kid, you’d have know idea how young he was; He’s never wavered, he’s stayed consistent, and he’s not afraid of a big spot.”
Offensively, the Panthers were paced by big days from Evan Janowitz, who went 2-3 with a triple and two stolen bases, as well as brothers Luke and Elias Murphy, who each drove in a run.
“[Westlake’s] lefty was great today, and what we did to adjust was just attack first pitch fastballs,” said Carlucci. “For the first five innings we struggled with that, but they came through when they needed to.”
Saturday night’s win marked the first time in Rye Neck’s program history that the Panthers have captured back-to-back Section I titles, something Janowitz said speaks to the mental toughness of this group. The Panthers graduated four starters from last year’s team but have seemingly not missed a beat despite the roster turnover.
“We have a bunch of new guys and we had guys step up and take over,” said Janowitz. “It just feels great to come out, get the win, and do it twice in a row.”
Contact: sports@hometwn.com
