Elmira's four-run seventh stuns defending champ Corning in Class AA baseball semifinal

Elmira put on its rally caps and its thinking caps Friday, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning to rally for a 5-4 victory over two-time defending sectional champion Corning in a Section 4 Class AA baseball semifinal.

The tying and go-ahead runs came home on a wild pitch, with Trevor Morrell astutely scoring from second on the heels of Tim Miller after Corning's catcher was unable to locate the ball when it bounced high toward the visiting Elmira dugout.

Second-seeded Corning was an out from a rematch with Horseheads in the best-of-three sectional finals after losing to the Blue Raiders in a STAC West tiebreaker. Instead it's the Express that will play for the title after losing twice to the Hawks during the regular season.

"Coach always tells us, play all 21 outs no matter what," Morrell said.

"This is a team sport. It all comes down to everyone doing their job and when everyone does their job you usually find success."

Corning finished with a 14-5 record.

More: Section 4 baseball tournament seeds, schedule, game information

Stars of the game

Morrell went 2-for-4 and his liner that scooted to the fence in left field drove in a run and brought the Express within 4-3 with one out in the seventh. Following a strikeout, he scored the deciding run.

Elmira right-hander Bryce Mashanic pitched a two-hitter. He overcame early command issues – he walked six – to close out the victory by getting Corning's Landen Burch to ground into a game-ending double play. Corning scored three unearned runs in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie.

Hawks ace Aidan Chamberlin struck out 13 and walked four in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits.

Burch had an RBI single in the first inning and Grayson Saltzer drove in a run on a grounder in the fifth after runs scored on an error and wild pitch.

Jack Carozzini had an RBI single in the second for Elmira to even the score 1-1.

How the comeback happened

Da'Mon Jackson opened the seventh with a walk for Elmira, but a liner to center field off the bat of Ryan Ess was caught by a diving Will Kibler.

Ben Rhode and Miller, a pinch-hitter, followed with back-to-back singles, with Miller's hit driving in Jackson. Morrell's hit made it a 4-3 score and Hawks coach Eric Kizis called on Burch to pitch with runners at second and third. He struck out Brady Morrell for the second out before the wild pitch while facing Bobby Cavalier allowed two to score. Burch ended up striking out Cavalier.

"It was electric. It was probably one of the greatest atmospheres I’ve ever been part of, when the team’s so in unison," Mashanic said.

Morrell 'going no matter what'

The intensity was such that Morrell said he wasn't even thinking when he got the seventh-inning hit off Chamberlin, adding he didn't remember what pitch he hit. When he saw the ball get away from catcher Trent Hackett moments later, he was thinking score immediately. He just beat the throw home with a head-first slide.

"Absolutely no hesitation," Morrell said. "I wasn’t even going to listen to what Coach (Jason) Manwaring told me, I was going. I was going no matter what."

Said Manwaring of Morrell: "He’s a baseball kid. There’s a reason he’s going to play Division II baseball down South (Limestone University). He’s going to do whatever it takes to get a win."

Mashanic finished the job

Mashanic retired two of the best hitters in Section 4, both future Division I players, in the seventh.

He jammed Navy commit Chamberlin to start the bottom of the seventh and Morrell reached over third baseman Carozzoni to snare the ball in the air as they avoided a collision.

"We all know Corning. There’s a bunch of Division I guys," Manwaring said. "They’re excellent. There’s a reason why they’ve been in the sectional championship so many years in a row. To get (Chamberlin) out, that first out was huge. I remember last year, first pitch of the game he hit one halfway through the tennis courts."

After hitting Henry Jackson with a pitch, Mashanic induced a ground ball to shortstop from Burch (Old Dominion) that was hit hard enough for Morrell to field, dash to second base and throw to first for the double play.

"My coaches preached all week to just hit your spots," Mashanic said. "I was focused on keeping the ball down to try and get a ground ball because he’s obviously a very tough hitter to get out."

Key at-bat from Miller

Miller, who will play baseball at Wells College, was sidelined by UCL (elbow) and ACL (knee) injuries in back-to-back years.

Manwaring told him in the third inning he was going to come up at some point Friday and deliver a key hit.

"He was hitting balls out of the ballpark in (batting practice) before we left, so we just felt like in that situation he was going to do it," Manwaring said. "Sure enough, he came through with a big hit."

Express peaking at the right time

Said Manwaring of his team: "Testament to the kids. We played 12 games without a full team, guys battling injuries, etc. So we came back late in the season, everyone healthy. We won I think five out of our last seven games. We knew we were trending in the right direction. We were ready to come up and play spoiler."

Quotable

Morrell referenced NFL receiving greats Randy Moss and Stefon Diggs when asked about Chamberlin's tweener to open the seventh.

Said Morrell: "Caz usually hesitates in those middle balls where it’s either one of us. I told him before the game, ‘If you can get it, you’ve got to go get it.’ I guess he went for it, but I just Mossed him at the end. Been watching Diggs."

Up next

Elmira (9-9) and STAC tournament champion Horseheads (16-4) start their best-of-three championship series at 5 p.m. Monday at Horseheads, 30 minutes later than the originally announced start time. Game 2 will be played Wednesday at Elmira's Ernie Davis Academy. Game 3, if needed, is scheduled for Friday at Horseheads. Admission $6 adults and students ages 11 and over; $4 for ages 64 and over.

Manwaring is excited to play for a title, but he's also looking forward to having more time with his team this season.

"They're just a great group to be around," he said. "The opportunity to go play a great program like (Horseheads), I'm sure it will be exciting this week. Hopefully we give them a good game."

Said Mashanic: "It’s really special. I’ve been thinking about it all year playing in sectionals. It’s always fun playing in sectionals. I can’t wait for the championship."

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Elmira rallies past Corning in Section 4 Class AA baseball semifinals