The Rye baseball team proved it was among the state’s best this season, winning a section tournament and regional final, but on Friday, the Garnets’ run came to an end in the New York state tournament semifinals.
Pittsford Mendon scored the game’s first five runs, and limited the damage when Rye threatened in the sixth inning, to win 7-2 and advance to Saturday’s Class A state championship game in Binghamton.
Vikings senior starter Cam Barbulean pitched five shutout innings with six strikeouts before the Garnets scored on him twice in the sixth. Rye senior Vin Sculti drove in sophomore Luke Onteneda with a single for Rye’s first run, and junior Michael Talbott walked to load the bases.
Barbulean, who pitched a nine-inning complete game shutout in Pittsford Mendon’s 1-0 regional final win, couldn’t go the distance against Rye. On his 100th pitch, the Vikings’ ace walked junior Nolan Hutson to score senior Harry Ellis from third and keep the bases loaded.
Junior Ethan Postle relieved Barbulean and threw two straight balls to Jamie Morris, but the Garnet senior flied out to right field to end the inning. Pittsford Mendon answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the sixth to ensure Rye didn’t make up any ground in the inning.
The Vikings, who outscored their first four postseason opponents by a combined score of 32-4 on the way to a Section 5 title, took a 3-0 lead against Rye in the bottom of the second. Peter Davies, Rye’s senior starting pitcher, gave up the three runs, but only one was earned. The score was the first Davies allowed in his past three appearances, after throwing a no-hitter in the section championship and three shutout innings in the regional final.
Jack Sheridan, another senior on Rye’s loaded pitching rotation, threw three-plus innings, giving up four runs (three earned) against a powerful Pittsford Mendon lineup. The Vikings added two runs in the bottom of the fifth for a 5-0 lead before Rye started to string together a rally in the sixth.
Pittsford Mendon had 12 hits, and Rye had five, from Ontaneda, Ellis, Sculti, Talbott, and senior Charlie Rupp.
The Vikings will play defending Class A state champion Maine-Endwell, which beat Sayville 2-0 in Friday’s other semifinal. The championship game is at 1 p.m. Saturday at SUNY Binghamton.
