SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Stampede closed out the American Legion regular season on a high note – defeating Ticonderoga by a 4-0 score to claim their fifth consecutive win.
The game was well pitched on both sides, and through the first two innings Ryan Washburn gave up just two hits for Saratoga, and Ticonderoga starter Hunter Denno allowed only a single by Justin Wilock.
In the third, Washburn was relieved by Andy Brown, as Stampede Manager Paul Mound continues to fine tune his staff heading into next week’s district tournament. In the tournament, the games change from seven innings to nine, so starters can’t pitch complete games as they do in the regular season.
Brown was very effective, yielding just a walk to Garret Hume in the third.
In the bottom of the inning, the Stampede would open the scoring. Brad Elliott drew a walk, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Kenny Recore then did his job, grounding out to the right side, driving home Elliott, and giving Saratoga a 1-0 lead.
Brown got the first out of the fourth easily, but then an error on third baseman Chris Hackett put Todd Carr on first. Two batters later, Travis Tabor singled, and there were runners on the corners. But Brown worked out of it, striking out Andrew Stanley to retire the side.
In the fifth, Brown again worked in and out of trouble. With one out, he walked Steve Burris, and then Hume slapped a base hit to left field. Brown then hit pinch hitter Travis Turnbull to load the bases, but he came back to strike out Adam Pond and got Carr to ground into a force play at second to end the threat.
Saratoga added two more runs off of Denno in the bottom of the frame, but only one of them was earned. Wilock reached on an error on Burris at short, and then stole second. A wild pitch sent Wilock to third, but when Tabor, the catcher, recovered the ball and fired to third, it sailed past Hume, the third baseman, and Wilock scored to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Recore doubled, and Brown followed with a single to center to plate Recore and make it a 3-0 contest.
Neil Callahan came on to pitch the sixth, and he faced just four batters to keep the shutout alive.
The Stampede completed the scoring in the bottom of the sixth, as Callahan and Hackett started with back-to-back base hits. After Denno struck out Washburn and Wilock, Zach Hartman, playing right field, smacked a single to drive in Callahan, and it was 4-0.
Mike DeGregory, who just returned to the Stampede after a shoulder injury, saw his first action on the mound since the beginning of the season in the seventh. DeGregory showed some rust, walking Hume and throwing three wild pitches, but he struck out three batters, including pinch hitter Pat Wallace, to strand Turnbull on third and preserve the shutout.
Manager Paul Mound talked about his pitching staff, and the difference between the regular season and tournament play. He’s also quite pleased at what he has seen.
“When we go to district play we’re going to be doing nine inning games, so you’ve got to piece it together. We’re not going out and throwing complete games when they’re nine inning affairs. We’re getting more and more positive out of Mike DeGregory, I’m really pleased. He had a lot of pop on the fastball that last inning. Andy Brown threw phenomenal. (If) You get that kind of approach out of Andy, who got the win tonight, and I’ll tell you what, that’s a big contribution for us. Callahan’s been doing extremely well out of the bullpen, and that’s really what’s going to be the difference in this tournament. In these nine inning games, that’s the great equalizer – pitching.”
Mound also believes that the parts of his bullpen are coming together.
“I’m actually looking at one of our starters, if not both of our primary starters (Wilson and Hartman) as being the ultimate closer. The key to being able to use them in that role is to minimize how many pitches they throw in starts they have… if we can get the kind of performances out of the middle guys like I’m seeing right now, namely Callahan, DeGregory, Brown, those guys are going to be very big players in the districts. We get good starting pitching, with Travis, with Zach, with Wash(burn), with Hack(ett), and with Ryan White, I like what we have from the starting rotation’s perspective.”
The win puts Saratoga’s record at 36-8, and they are ahead of last year’s pace, where they finished at 36-10.
The Stampede will play a non-league double header against the Vermont Lakers on Thursday night, with the first game beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The game was well pitched on both sides, and through the first two innings Ryan Washburn gave up just two hits for Saratoga, and Ticonderoga starter Hunter Denno allowed only a single by Justin Wilock.
In the third, Washburn was relieved by Andy Brown, as Stampede Manager Paul Mound continues to fine tune his staff heading into next week’s district tournament. In the tournament, the games change from seven innings to nine, so starters can’t pitch complete games as they do in the regular season.
Brown was very effective, yielding just a walk to Garret Hume in the third.
In the bottom of the inning, the Stampede would open the scoring. Brad Elliott drew a walk, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Kenny Recore then did his job, grounding out to the right side, driving home Elliott, and giving Saratoga a 1-0 lead.
Brown got the first out of the fourth easily, but then an error on third baseman Chris Hackett put Todd Carr on first. Two batters later, Travis Tabor singled, and there were runners on the corners. But Brown worked out of it, striking out Andrew Stanley to retire the side.
In the fifth, Brown again worked in and out of trouble. With one out, he walked Steve Burris, and then Hume slapped a base hit to left field. Brown then hit pinch hitter Travis Turnbull to load the bases, but he came back to strike out Adam Pond and got Carr to ground into a force play at second to end the threat.
Saratoga added two more runs off of Denno in the bottom of the frame, but only one of them was earned. Wilock reached on an error on Burris at short, and then stole second. A wild pitch sent Wilock to third, but when Tabor, the catcher, recovered the ball and fired to third, it sailed past Hume, the third baseman, and Wilock scored to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, Recore doubled, and Brown followed with a single to center to plate Recore and make it a 3-0 contest.
Neil Callahan came on to pitch the sixth, and he faced just four batters to keep the shutout alive.
The Stampede completed the scoring in the bottom of the sixth, as Callahan and Hackett started with back-to-back base hits. After Denno struck out Washburn and Wilock, Zach Hartman, playing right field, smacked a single to drive in Callahan, and it was 4-0.
Mike DeGregory, who just returned to the Stampede after a shoulder injury, saw his first action on the mound since the beginning of the season in the seventh. DeGregory showed some rust, walking Hume and throwing three wild pitches, but he struck out three batters, including pinch hitter Pat Wallace, to strand Turnbull on third and preserve the shutout.
Manager Paul Mound talked about his pitching staff, and the difference between the regular season and tournament play. He’s also quite pleased at what he has seen.
“When we go to district play we’re going to be doing nine inning games, so you’ve got to piece it together. We’re not going out and throwing complete games when they’re nine inning affairs. We’re getting more and more positive out of Mike DeGregory, I’m really pleased. He had a lot of pop on the fastball that last inning. Andy Brown threw phenomenal. (If) You get that kind of approach out of Andy, who got the win tonight, and I’ll tell you what, that’s a big contribution for us. Callahan’s been doing extremely well out of the bullpen, and that’s really what’s going to be the difference in this tournament. In these nine inning games, that’s the great equalizer – pitching.”
Mound also believes that the parts of his bullpen are coming together.
“I’m actually looking at one of our starters, if not both of our primary starters (Wilson and Hartman) as being the ultimate closer. The key to being able to use them in that role is to minimize how many pitches they throw in starts they have… if we can get the kind of performances out of the middle guys like I’m seeing right now, namely Callahan, DeGregory, Brown, those guys are going to be very big players in the districts. We get good starting pitching, with Travis, with Zach, with Wash(burn), with Hack(ett), and with Ryan White, I like what we have from the starting rotation’s perspective.”
The win puts Saratoga’s record at 36-8, and they are ahead of last year’s pace, where they finished at 36-10.
The Stampede will play a non-league double header against the Vermont Lakers on Thursday night, with the first game beginning at 5:30 p.m.
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