PCYBL 10U Pirates win GHVBL playoffs deuce to cruise into the semi-finals Friday at Lyon Park

July 31, 2024 at 8:23 p.m.

In the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League 10U playoff opener, Nolan Brown struck out four batters in two innings for the Port Chester Pirates against Heat Baseball. (Courtesy photo of Jen Lovallo)

In the one-and-done way that unpredictable age-group playoff baseball unfolds, when a team trails 7-0 at the end of the first inning, it looks like game and season over. But not for the Port Chester Youth Baseball League 10U Pirates because they rallied for nine runs in the bottom of the second inning with Derek Lovallo coming through with a bases loaded triple that cleared the bases.

Lovallo's clutch three-bagger cleared the way for the local comeback kids to go on to beat the Kent White Sox 10-8 Monday night (7/29) at Lyon Park in the second game of the Greater Hudson Valley Baseball League (GHVBL) playoffs.

Sherwood pitching duo

The Pirates’ Sherwood brothers—LJ and Daniel—teamed up to shut down the Sox the rest of the way with a strong pitching effort.

And the offense came through big time with 11 of the 12 Pirates belting base hits, collectively going 21 for 34 during an outburst that helped erase the early deficit—and then some.

And yet winning by a deuce was cutting it close because of the way the locals started their playoff run with a romp.

Especially after the Pirates never trailed in opening the playoffs earlier with a Saturday (7/27) 19-2 home win over Heat Baseball.

But a win is a win as long as your team is on the W side of the final score.

Stage set for the semis

That dual win set the stage for the Pirates to move on into the semi-finals of the playoffs Friday (8/2) at 5:30 p.m. at Lyon Park against the winner of the Rockland Elite Red vs the Yorktown Huskers quarterfinals match-up with that game played after press time.

In the playoff opener against the Heat, the Pirates got both strong pitching and hitting.

Nolan Brown combined with Dylan Rivera on a two-hitter in which Brown struck out four batters in two innings and Rivera closed it out with a scoreless third inning before the Mercy Rule kicked in with the Pirates up by more than 10 runs.

LJ Sherwood, Noah Klauck, Charlie Budkins, Myles DeBari, Kyle Renaldo and Lovallo had multi-hit games and every player on the roster got a base hit.

But that wasn't the story against the Sox, at least not at the outset when the Pirates looked like a different team as the squad from Kent scored seven quick runs in the first inning. Sloppy pitching and defense contributed to that early deficit. But the local kids settled down after the opening jitters and came out swinging in the second inning. Lovallo's clutch triple was the big hit that set the tone for multiple hit games from him, both Sherwoods, Klauck, Budkins and Rivera. So it turned out to be a tale of two innings with both teams playing it close from the second inning on and the Pirates’ rally in the second proving to be the difference maker.

That win sent the locals into the semis, one W away from playing in the championship finale Sunday (8/4) at high noon at Rogers Park in Danbury, Conn. The Pirates hope to be there and win it all. But first they have to get by the winner of the Rockland-Yorktown game in what promises to be a predictably unpredictable playoff semi final between closely matched age group teams. The locals, however, have already shown they can win the close games as well as run away with the high-scoring contests. And a W is a W which is what they want to come away from Connecticut with no matter how they get it.