Panthers win MHAL title

By Mike Zummo
Posted 5/17/23

It was a long day of baseball for the Wallkill Panthers, but it was a successful one.

The Panthers won their second straight Mid Hudson Athletic League championship on Saturday with a 9-3 …

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Panthers win MHAL title

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It was a long day of baseball for the Wallkill Panthers, but it was a successful one.

The Panthers won their second straight Mid Hudson Athletic League championship on Saturday with a 9-3 semifinal win over the Division II champion Marlboro Iron Dukes, and a 5-1 win over the Division III champion Highland Huskies on Saturday at Cantine Field in Saugerties.

“It feels good,” said Chase Hermance, who was the winning pitcher in the championship game with a complete game effort. “This isn’t the main goal. The main goal is the section chip, which we fell short of last year. It’s a good feeling, but there’s a little more work to be done.”

The game was tense as the Panthers had to erase a 1-0 Highland lead, and were holding a 2-1 lead, heading into the bottom of the seventh when Highland coach John Manganiello went to Bradley Gatto to relieve Hunter Tomlin.

Gatto walked Spencer Freer with one out and then Kyle DeGroat singled to center field putting two men on. From there, Brandon Vesely gave the Panthers some much-needed breathing room with a mammoth three-run home run to left field, giving the Panthers a 5-1 lead.

“I came to bat, and I was like, ‘come on, we need some insurance runs,’” Vesely said. “I was away ahead. He liked to pitch in, so I kept telling myself, ‘I’ve got to sit back and move up in the box.’ It was just too slow for me. I just made an adjustment and then, bam.”

The jolt Vesely put into the pitch was equaled by the jolt it put into the Panthers, who felt like they were waiting all game for that release.

“We got some timely hitting from Brandon,” Wallkill coach T.D. Mills said. “He crushed that ball. So, it was nice to see. It was a good day for the boys.”

Hermance came out in the seventh, struck out the first two batters, gave up a single and induced a comebacker from Jeremy Angelone to end the game.

“Chase did not have his best stuff today,” Mills said. “His velo was probably down about 7 mph. So, he battled through the first couple of innings, but once he got into his groove, he kept his pitch count down pretty well.”

After a slow start, Hermance found his groove in the fourth inning and started mowing down the Huskies. He finished with a five-hitter, allowing a single run and had 12 strikeouts.

“I just had to locate better,” Hermance said. “My arm didn’t feel 100 percent today, but I still had to locate and trust my defense and trust the offense. Overall, it was a solid job, but we can definitely do better.”

The Huskies got their lone run in the first inning on an RBI single by A.J. Grant.

The Panthers tied the game in the fourth on an RBI single by Chris Wager. Hermance scored, but Sean Asendorf was thrown out at home to end the inning. Asendorf gave the Panthers the lead in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly.

The Panthers advanced to the semifinals with a 9-3 win over Marlboro. Kyle DeGroat got the win with 12 strikeouts in six innings. Vesely had two hits and an RBI, Spencer Freer singled, doubled and drove in a run, and Asendorf doubled and drove in two. Ryan Rauschenbach singled, doubled and drove in two and Wager singled and drove in a run.

“We actually let them hang around,” Mills said. “We should have put that game away after five innings, but a couple of miscues on our part extended the game a little bit, but both those teams, Marlboro and Highland are going to do well in the sections for Class B.”

The Panthers have a final tune-up this week with two road games against the Valley Central Vikings and Kinston Tigers before returning home on Thursday to host the Bushmen. Last year’s MHAL championship run exhausted the Panthers, but they’re on an upswing after Saturday’s two wins.

“It’s a playoff feel, but we’re still working on things,” Hermance said. “It’s just about getting primed up for the section chip. We really want the section championship.”