Major PCYBL age group Pirates teams lose in finals and semis of the GHVBL Summer Season playoffs
August 14, 2024 at 11:40 p.m.
So near and yet so far and a lot more than the geographic distance between Lyon Park and Danbury, Conn.
The Port Chester Youth Baseball League 11U Pirates came up one game short of a championship season.
That close loss came in the final playoff game of the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League Summer Season Championship.
The Pirates lost 7-3 to the Bryn Mawr Bulldogs in the championship game on a recent Sunday (8/4) in Danbury, Conn.
The game was much closer than the final score indicated, a blemish on an otherwise near perfect 16-1 season that sent them into the playoffs as the number one seed.
Run through playoffs
It took a lot to get there including winning their first three playoff games at Lyon Park in the run up to the finals, a run that included surviving a semi-finals game that was suspended for a week after a late thunder and lightning storm came close to wiping out a Pirates 7-2 lead in the fourth inning.
Starting with round one of the playoffs July 28, a Sunday, Ben Frimere mowed down the Greenwich team from the outset, and the Pirates were off and running to a 15-5 romp, completing a four-game sweep of the Connecticut team during the GHVBL season.
Aidan Brenzel led the Pirates’ offense by going two for two with a run scored and a run batted in in the 11U Pirates’ 5-3 win over Heat Baseball in the GHVBL quarterfinals second game on July 30.Courtesy of Rob Brenzel
It was Tyler Albanese's turn to bring on the heat in the quarterfinals second game Tuesday (7/30), striking out five, allowing just two earned runs and throwing five and two-thirds strong innings against Heat Baseball. Aidan Brenzel led the Pirates’ offense by going two for two with a run scored and a run batted in in a 5-3 win in which the locals made the most of their six hits on their way into the semi-finals.
Thunder and lightning
That round three Friday game (8-2) against the Hudson Valley Hawks went from a laugher to a near disaster because the Pirates were leading 7-2 going into the fourth inning when thunder and lightning split the sky, the rains came, and the game had to be suspended. When the game resumed the next day (Saturday, 8/3), the Hawks got their second wind and tied the game 8-8 going into the last inning. So it took a two-out clutch walk-off base hit from Frimere to send the Pirates into the finals.
But all it took was one Bulldog swing to ruin the Pirates’ day because that swing resulted in a two-run Bryn Mawr homer to centerfield to give them enough breathing room to hold on and win 7-3. The Pirates had twice gotten out of bases loaded jams, but that homer changed the game.
The leading players
But it couldn't detract from a season to remember where every player on the roster seemed to take turns stepping up so that everyone played a winning role, those players including Frimere, Albanese, Brenzel Gavin Quinn, Teddy Hertzmark, Luke Doherty, Kristian Devora, Harsh Patel, Max Quigley, Lucas Molleturo, Juan Garcia, Brody Jampole and Mason Quinn.
"The boys battled hard, but came up just short at the end," Pirates head coach Danny (Booms) Greco said after the game. "The one loss does not define the Pirates team that finished the season with a 19-2 record. We will use this loss to fuel us going forward as we move up to 12U in the fall GHVBL league and gear up to test ourselves against the best age group teams in the nation at Cooperstown next August."
Assistant coaches Rob Brenzel, Fabio Garcia, Dom Quinn and Jim Doherty couldn't agree more.
The 10U Pirates were the only other major Port Chester Youth Baseball League age-group team to make a run deep into the GHVBL playoffs, only to lose 3-1 in the semi-finals to the Rockland Elite in a game that could have gone either way.
Pitchers’ duel in semis loss
In what turned out to be a pitchers’ duel, the Sherwood brothers (Daniel and LJ) combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run. But the defense let them down with errors leading to the two unearned runs that cost them the game.
In a pitchers’ duel, the Sherwood brothers combined for 13 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run in the 10U Pirates’ semifinal game in the Hudson Valley Baseball League, but the defense did not back them up and they lost to the Rockland Elite 3-1.Courtesy of Jen Lovallo
But one game does not a season make, and that semi-finals loss does not take away from how well the 10U Pirates played during a season that saw them go 3-2 against some of the best teams in the country in winning the consolation bracket of the White Oak Knockout Ripken Experience Tournament July 18-21 in Aberdeen, Md.
The 10U team had a roster filled with talented players who kept the team in virtually every game throughout a memorable season that included their winning the Sacred Heart Slugfest Tournament in Hainesport, N.J., July 14-15. Every game produced its own hero, including the Sherwoods, Jared Friedman, Derek Lovallo, Noah Klauck, Robert Berlingo, Dylan Rivera, Nolan Brown, Charlie Budkins, Myles DeBari, Kyle Renaldo, Gabe Rieke and Luke Petriello.
"The boys had a very good season, and we will get back to work so we can be even better during the upcoming GHVBL Fall Season in September," said head coach Jeremy Brown.
And Port Chester Rams head varsity coach Sean Burke likes what he sees coming up through the PCYBL pipeline because it is a varsity feeder system that will make the Rams better as well in the years to come. And Brown and his assistant coaches Jim Sherwood, Rich Berlingo, Dan DeBari, Jon Lovallo and their fellow PCYBL coaches will keep molding those age group players into potential Ram varsity stars.
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