POTSDAM - Taper Lake baseball team remained loose and united all season and paid off with a 11-6 victory over Hevelton in the Division 10 Class D championship game on Tuesday at Clarkson University.
The Lumberjacks (14-4 in total) have won their first team championship for boys in any sport since returning to Section 10 before the 2005-06 school year.
The team has several players who dyed their hair blue. Every game was done by a new player, but coach Dan Brown joked after the game that he would not be on the list.
The lumberjacks will travel to SUNNY Platzburg to face Section 7 champion Crown Point in the state quarterfinal match on Saturday. Time not announced.
Taper Lake had 6-7 last year with the same core group of players who won the championship on Tuesday.
“The biggest thing about us is that we have a group of guys who hang out every day after training,” said Brown. “They hang out together all day at school. They play golf together. They swim together. They deliver pizzas to my house when they have night left. It’s just a group of 15 guys who want to be together all the time, and they’re a team. When I think of the team, I think of these guys. ”
The current Lumberjack was in his first championship game in any sport and faced a Heuvelton program that has been regular in this type of game over the years.
The Bulldogs (9-4) threw the Lumberjacks into a 3-0 hole at the bottom of the third inning.
Tristan Young from Heuvelton took the lead at the top of the third place with a double. He scored a goal on Nate Masho’s single. Masho scored on Adam Kalton’s triple, and then Kalton scored on Lukas Thornhill’s single.
With one car at the bottom of the inning, Taper Lake’s ninth hitter, Garrett Devie, was singled out. Carter Keniston followed with another single and a walk to Ryder Willett who filled the bases.
Deviea scored a goal on the wild, and Grant Godin scored, but the last field escaped Heuvelton’s catcher, allowing Keniston to score, and Godin finished at second base.
Griffin Shahin followed with a triple for Villette and Godin, then hit Luke Robilard in singles and gave Taper Lake a 5-3 lead.
“It came down to a few mistakes,” said Havelton coach Dave Steele. “That one great inning was a great uplift for us. We thought we turned it in our favor. That’s how baseball happens. Nerves in one inning and turns and builds a little momentum. I thought we had a chance. “
The Lumberjacks added three more runs in the fourth inning, with Godin driving in the double race and Shaheen in the second single race.
Shaheen, the Tupper Lake catcher, tripled again at the bottom of the sixth and finished 4-for-4, driving in five runs. He also kicked out a Heuvelton runner who was trying to steal another.
“It means a lot not only to the school, but also to the community.” Shahin said about the victory. “We worked hard every day. It just turned out. ”
Godin finished 2-for-4 for the Lumberjacks.
“We started slowly in a few of our games, but I’m very happy to see the sticks come out,” said Godin. “Bats have come to life and that is what helps us win all year long. We did a lot of running. ”
Keniston threw in a complete game, hitting seven, and went 2-for-4.
“My crooked ball was right,” said Keniston. “I made them think a little about opposing the fast ball. I had a lot of confidence in my team. “
Robillard and Devie got each 2-for-4.
Calton tripled, and Thornhill finished with two singles for Heuvelton. Trondhill and Brandon Prey hit RBI singles in the seventh inning, and Jed Crayford in the fifth inning.