The path wasn’t easy, but the Rye baseball team made it look that way, beating top-seeded Panas twice on Sunday to win the Section 1 Class A tournament title.
The Garnets (22-4), whose only loss in the past 19 games was against Panas on May 27, got a double dose of revenge, defeating the Panthers 8-1 Sunday morning at SUNY Purchase to force a decisive Game 2. In the winner-take-all showdown, Peter Davies threw a near-perfect game for a 5-0 victory. The senior pitcher hit three batters but allowed zero hits and zero walks, giving Rye its first section tournament crown since 2014.
Beating the same team twice — in the same day, no less — is a challenge, especially against Panas (20-6), which, like Rye, had won 18 of its past 19 games entering Sunday. But the mentality stayed the same for the Garnets: take it one game at a time.
“No pressure, just get by that first one,” Rye baseball coach Mike Bruno told his team. “We thought we didn’t play our best game the other day. We lost to Panas on Tuesday, and then get to the second game and anything can happen — and Davies happened. A no-hitter, so you have to be happy about that.”
Rye’s first section title in 11 years took much more than just a single-day sweep. The Garnets won a third straight league title and 15 straight games before the loss to Panas, which put them in a May 28 elimination game. They beat Nanuet 9-5 to earn a rematch with the Panthers, but still faced an uphill battle to win the tournament.
“Baseball is the toughest sport to win,” Bruno said. “There’s so many variables: the field, the umpires, the weather, the pitchers … We had to win six games to win the section because we lost. So, it’s all them. They went out and played [their game].”
A major reason Panas lost back-to-back games, something Rye still hasn’t done all season, were the Garnets’ masterful pitching performances. Senior Jack Sheridan got the win in Game 1, pitching four-plus scoreless innings, and freshman Clayton McCarthy got the final seven outs. The duo collectively gave up five hits and one run, while Rye racked up 10 hits and eight runs.
In Game 2, Davies earned tournament MVP honors with an astounding championship game no-hitter. The senior threw 81 pitches, with five strikeouts across seven innings.
The first four innings of Game 1 were scoreless before Rye plated three runs in the fifth. Sophomore left fielder Luke Ontaneda singled in the first run, and junior right fielder Harry Ellis drove in two more with a double. Rye tacked on another five runs in the seventh to put the game away before allowing Panas’ only run of the day in the bottom of the inning.
Rye got on the board early in Game 2 with two runs in the bottom of the second inning, thanks to a single by junior center fielder Lucas London and a double by junior second baseman Michael Talbott.
Junior catcher Jackson Pineault grounded out in the third, bumping the Garnets’ lead to three. An RBI sacrifice fly by London and a single by junior shortstop Nolan Hutson sealed the deal for Rye in the sixth.
“They’re a really focused group, coming to practice day-in and day-out and just not getting too tight, not getting too high and not getting too low,” Bruno said. “They deserve it. They did it.”
As the Section 1 champion, Rye gets a regional semifinal bye and advances to the regional final round against either the Section 2 or 3 champion on Saturday, June 7. The game will be in Troy or Syracuse, with the winner advancing to the Class A New York state semifinals, June 13-14 in Binghamton.
