29 GAME WIN STREAK COMES TO AN END
In June of 2007, there was a group of 10 yr old all-stars who met upstairs at the famed Colonie clubhouse. They were told about the rich 55 year history that our league has, all of it's many District titles, the many Sectional titles and the league even had 6 NYS Championships to it's credit at the time. The coaches asked the team to look around and stare at all those trophies and to dedicate themselves to win a District title.......
......3 years have passed, and now this Class of 2009 has set a new standard of greatness, that will be a tough act to ever match....maybe the "Greatest of all Time"!!!
This group accumulated 29 straight wins, 3 District Championships, 2 Section II Championships and 2 NYS Championships.....and it came to a bitter end Tuesday night in Chatham, as we finally were on the short end of a tough game. Saratoga National won by a score of 6-3 and all of Colonie Nation wishes Saratoga nothing but the best in the NYS tourney this weekend.
We looked for the coaches after the game and one had this to say.."winning that many games against quality opponents in baseball is just unheard of. These boys gave themselves, their families and anyone that was a part of these three years, memories that will last a lifetime. The boys might not realize it at this young age, but when they get older, they'll sit back and say, wow, that was incredible!!"
Incredible might be putting it too lightly, when you think about a few things:
- 30 games on 15 different fields--(different umps, hotels, on the road driving, etc.)
- In districts, every game for 3 years was against the two toughest opponents, Pine Bush and Tri Village, we played no other league ever!!
- Overall Sectional record of 10-1
- Overall NYS tourney record of 6-0
- 5-0 in 1 run games
- 4-0 in 2 run games
In one final tribute to this team that will go down in CLL history, here's the entire group(somewhere i hear Colonie Nation clapping loud!!)
Cameron Apple
Evan Carey
Ben Contento
Cameron Daley('08)
Nick Donato
Zach Gallagher
Andrew Holmes
Josh Longe('07,'08)
Mike Mueller
Ryan Nicholson
Ray Osterhout
Andrew Patentreger
Mike Paulsen('07)
Kyle Ruth
Kevin Ryan
Nolan Smith
COLONIE 12's HEADS TO SECTION 3 FINAL
Colonie LL was asked to win their 3rd game in a span of just 25 hours, and all against top notch District Champion teams. Saturday it was the doubleheader wins versus Espous (D16) and Saugerties (D15) and today was a semi-final showdown versus the District 14 champs, Cohoes LL.
Colonie sent out Ryan Nicholson, making his first start since April 11th as he fought through arm trouble all year long. Ryan rested himself much of the year for a moment like this.....Colonie was looking for a Ryan Nicholson performance that we've grown accustomed to over the last 2 years....and Ryan delivered today in a big way!!! Ryan fought off a tough first inning, where he gave up 3 hits and a run....but then Ryan put on a pitching clinic as he held the very talented Cohoes gang to no hits and no runs over the final 5 innings as Colonie came out with a hard fought 3-1 win!!
Bottom of the 2nd, down 1-0, Colonie generated 2 runs from their 6 thru 9 hitters in the batting order....a common occurence on this team as all 12 kids produce...Ryan Nicholson worked an 8 pitch walk and then Andrew Holmes smacked a line drive single up the middle and suddenly there were runners on the corners with 2 outs....Andrew Patentreger then tied the game as his huge 2-out rbi single put the "Colonie Nation" in a loud mood and Holmes smartly went to third on the play from first....the very next pitch, the 2 Andrew's perfectly executed the double steal as Holmes steals a run at home while Patentreger is playing "pickle" with Cohoes defenders until the runs scores!!
"That run gave us alot of momentum as we approached their lineup for a 2nd time in the 3rd inning." coach replied moments after the game.....The defense was sharp and crisp and made all the plays as Colonie played errorless ball for the 6th time in 8 games!! 7 different players recorded a defensive assist tonight.
Colonie knew the importance of generating at least 1 insurance run before the 6th inning came as Cohoes had their "murderers row" portion of the lineup due up....and again, this team rose to the occasion....Nolan Smith hit a rocket to right field and as Cohoes attempted to throw him out at first, Nolan smartly took 2nd base when the throw went past the defender....with Smith on 2nd base, Kevin Ryan then placed a gorgeous bunt down the first base line and the throw was tossed into right field as Smith cruises in to score, putting Colonie up 3-1!!
Now it's on to the NYS Section 3 Championship game, being held Monday night in Chatham NY at 6pm. Colonie's opponent will be Saratoga National (D11).....Saratoga is also 3-0 in sectional play as they defeated Scotia (D12), Cohoes (D14) and then Saugerties (D15) in today's other semi final. As always, good luck Colonie!!
COLONIE 12's SWEEP DIVISION "B"
This year is something new in the New York State baseball championships. Every year the state had been divided into 4 sections and then at the state tourney, the "final four" would play for it all....this year, the state is now going to be divided into 6 sections and Colonie is placed in the new Section 3. Then for the first time ever in sectional play, it was "pool play", with 2 divisions of 3 teams....and Colonie was placed in division "B", along with District 15 (Saugerties) and District 16 (Esopus).
Today, the Colonie 12's were asked to play both games, and 80 miles apart!! Beginning with a 2pm game down the thruway at the home of Ulster LL, versus Dsitrict 16, Esopus. Colonie pounded out 18 hits, 3 of them HR's and scored in 5 of the 6 innings and dominated the homestanding Esopus squad, 17-4.
Colonie wasted no time as they plated 3 runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, highlighted by huge HR's from Zach Gallagher and then Mike Mueller!! Then Colonie built the lead to 9-0 before Esopus cut the lead down to 9-4. The coaches asked the boys before the 6th inning, "let's play this 6th inning like it's 0-0 and get the momentum back"......boy, these kids sure know how to listen......they sent 11 batters to the plate, scoring 7 times, highlighted with a HR by Ray Osterhout!! When you have 18 hits, there are plenty of names, and we will list them all below....but with a huge game, 11 year old phenom, Kyle Ruth was 4 for 4 at the plate and had a chance for the monumental 5 for 5.....Esopus chose to intentionally walk the superstar and load the bases instead!!
Kyle Ruth 4 hits (double)
Ben Contento 1 hit
Mike Mueller 4 hits (HR, double)
Ray Osterhout 1 hit (HR)
Zach Gallagher 2 hits (HR)
Nolan Smith 1 hit
Ryan Nicholson 3 hits
Andrew Patentreger 1 hit
Kevin Ryan 1 hit
Pitching was handled by Ray Osterhout. Ray gutted out 5 strong innings, going 87 pitches and yeilding only 2 hits and stiking out 5 to earn the win. Mike Mueller (17 pitches) came in and pitched a perfect 6th inning.......and then Colonie headed back to Albany for an 8pm game versus Distrcit 15 Saugerties......
Just 4 hours after completing the final out in Ulster, Colonie was back to work as they faced the other 1-0 team in the division. Colonie scattered 12 hits, 2 of them HR's and beat Saugerties 12-4, claiming the #1 seed in the "B" division of the pool play!!
The game actually started Friday night as Colonie began the game with 5 straight hits, highlighted by a "bomb" HR by Ben Contento as Colonie built a 3-1 lead before Mother Nature forced a suspension in the 3rd inning, to be finished Saturday evening.......Colonie picked right up where they left off as they scored in every inning, beginning with 3 runs in the 3rd, making it 6-1. After Saugerties answered with 2 runs, cutting it to 6-3.....Colonie tacked on 4 huge runs in the 4th, the 2 big hits were Ray Osterhout's double followed by a 2nd HR of the day for Zach "The Crusher" Gallagher!!
Evan Carey 1 hit
Kevin Ryan 1 hit
Ryan Nicholson 1 hit
Andrew Patentreger 1 hit
Zach Gallagher 1 hit (HR)
Ray Osterhout 2 hits (double)
Mike Mueller 2 hits
Ben Contento 2 hits (HR)
Kyle Ruth 1 hit
Pitching was handled by Ben Contento in the first 2 innings (Friday night). Ben tossed 47 pitches, giving up only 2 hits and yeilding just the 1 run. Then on Saturday night, Colonie sent out suprise starter Kyle Ruth....as Kyle saw his first mound action of the post season and "rose to the challenge" big time!! Kyle scattered 5 hits, struck out 4 batters and gave up just 3 runs (only 1 earned) as he earned the win.
Now it's on to the semi-finals, Sunday afternoon at Twin Town LL, with a 1pm start time. Their opponent will be the 2nd place team in division "A", which is the 1-1 Cohoes LL (Dist 14 champs). The other semi-final contest is 2-0 Saratoga (Dist 11) versus the 1-1 Saugerties squad...that game is being played in Chatham. As always, good luck Colonie!!!