Shenendehowa baseball stuns CBA Syracuse with late rally to land in Class AAA state semifinals

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- If there's one thing we've learned by this point of the high school baseball season: you can NEVER count Shenendehowa out of a game.

Trailing 10-5 going into the seventh and final inning of Saturday's NYSPHSAA Class AAA regional final at Onondaga Community College, the Plainsmen rallied for six runs to stun Christian Brothers Academy (Syracuse), winning 11-10. Shen is headed back to Binghamton to compete in the state semifinals.

The five-run deficit was the largest Shen faced all evening. The Plainsmen led briefly in the top of the second inning after a Blake Mello sacrifice fly plated the game's first run. CBA responded, though, with four runs in the home half, and Shen played catch-up from that point on.

Ryan Cronin started the seventh-inning rally with a lead-off single. He was promptly brought home by Cooper Reinisch, who smashed a double off the wall in left-center field. After the next two batters - Mello and Amaar Bhusri - were both hit by a pitch, the Plainsmen had the tying run at the plate.

A one-out, bases-loaded walk to Jordan Pazienza pushed across the second run of the inning, cutting Shen's deficit to three. CBA reliever Ryan Petrie got Ian Oehlschlaeger to pop out for the second out of the inning, bringing Jason Clawson to the dish to try and keep the Plainsmen’s season alive.

On the first pitch Clawson saw, he hit a towering fly ball to left. CBA's left fielder, Hector Gonzalez, appeared to lose the ball in the twilight sky, and it fell in for a bases-clearing double. With Clawson, the go-ahead runner, now in scoring position, Brad Curtis drilled an 0-1 offering from Petrie on the ground and into left field, bringing Clawson around for the sixth run of the inning, as Shen took an 11-10 lead.

R.J. Ensel shut the door in the home half to complete the improbable comeback. The victory comes one weekend after the Plainsmen battled back from down one game in the AAA sectional championship series to beat Saratoga Springs and clinch a spot in the state tournament.

This marks the second straight season Shen has reached the state final four - last year came in Class AA. The Plainsmen were knocked out by Commack, which eventually lost to Section I’s Ketcham in the championship game.

Shen (20-7) will take on the reigning state champs, Ketcham (22-3), in a semifinal game Friday, June 7, at Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m.