Niagara wins final regional baseball tournament at Veterans Memorial Park

Niagara County Community College's Thunderwolves pose with NJCAA Region III Division III's baseball championship plaque after beating Herkimer College at Veterans Memorial Park in Saturday's title game.
Niagara County Community College's Thunderwolves pose with NJCAA Region III Division III's baseball championship plaque after beating Herkimer College at Veterans Memorial Park in Saturday's title game.

LITTLE FALLS – Region III’s Division III baseball tournament bade its farewell to Veterans Memorial Park on Saturday with an appropriate send-off, a pair of games between defending champion Niagara County Community College and host Herkimer College to determine a spot in the Junior College World Series.

For the second year in a row, Niagara entered the final day of double-elimination play unbeaten, lost the first game of the championship round then defeated Herkimer by one run to claim the national tournament berth.

And for the second year in a row, Herkimer was left hoping to be offered the national tournament’s single at-large bid, which will be announced Monday.

Herkimer, shut out by Finger Lakes Community College Thursday, played its way back to the championship round with two wins Friday and one in the heat of the day Saturday. The Generals scored five runs and knocked Niagara’s starting pitcher out in the first inning of the winner-takes-all finale and but the Thunderwolves battled back and earned its seventh regional title with a 9-8 victory in the tournament’s highest-scoring game.

“We came up short today and we came up short last year,” Herkimer coach Jason Rathbun said, “but we had a lot of great moments, too.”

Included in those moments was a spectacular catch Thursday by center fielder Jordan Lewis that earned national attention as No. 1 on ESPN’s top 10 plays for the day. Lewis hit his leg on the football bleachers when he toppled over the fence and sat out the rest of the tournament.

Herkimer also owns seven regional titles, and the two finalists have combined to win 10 in a row at Veterans Memorial Park which started its run as the tournament’s host in 2009. The 2023 tournament will be hosted by Cayuga Community College at Auburn’s Falcon Park.

“I’ve played a lot of baseball all around through the years,” Niagara coach Matt Clingersmith said after Saturday’s finale, “and my best memories as a player and as a coach are right here. … It’s been a pleasure coming (to Little Falls), and I have looked forward to it every year.”

Taking home a third consecutive championship plaque and sixth in 10 seasons added a nice souvenir.

“(Herkimer has) a hell of a program,” Clingersmith said. “When I first started here, that was the goal, to be like Jason and to be like (Erie Community College coach Joe Bauth).”

Bauth coached the last team other than Niagara or Herkimer to win the tournament and entered the 2022 tournament seeded second behind Herkimer.

The eight-team national tournament starts Saturday at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, Tennessee.

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Championship Game

Ethan Duda, a starter earlier in the season pressed back into the Herkimer lineup because of injuries, delivered the big blow in the first inning, a bases-loaded triple with an errant relay throw that allowed him to follow three teammates home on the play. Duda later singled home two runs in the fifth inning to give Herkimer a 7-3 lead.

Playing a fifth nine-inning game in three days took its toll on the Herkimer pitching staff and the patchwork started to unravel in the top of the sixth. Left-hander Ethan Patch had started and thrown five innings Thursday and had shut Niagara out through 2 2/3 innings of relief when he hit a batter to start the sixth. An error, a hit and a walk produced one run and loaded the bases before Chris Tani, Niagara’s leadoff hitter, singled home two more runs and prompted a pitching change. Andrew Fairbrother drove home the tying run and Vincent Stutz followed with a double that gave the Thunderwolves an 8-7 lead and led to another pitching change.

Niagara added a run in the top of the ninth and leaving Herkimer with three final outs to mount a comeback. A wild throw and a violent collision at first base started the bottom of the ninth and put General Sal Carricato at second base. Ryan Birchard struck out the next two batters before Trey Miller singled Carricato home and reached base as the potential tying run.

Birchard then struck out Duda to end the game.

Herkimer College second baseman Kyle Caccamise (12) tries to turn a double play with shortstop Trey Miller (3) looking on after forcing out the lead runner against Erie Community College Friday.
Herkimer College second baseman Kyle Caccamise (12) tries to turn a double play with shortstop Trey Miller (3) looking on after forcing out the lead runner against Erie Community College Friday.

Bouncing Back

Finger Lakes freshman Devin Georgetti threw a complete game shutout with 12 strikeouts Thursday and the Lakers defeated Herkimer 2-0 on only two hits.

That left the Generals with a long path to the championship, but one they had taken one year earlier.

Herkimer College General Ryan Packard (13) delivers a pitch against Erie Community College in NJCAA Region III Division III baseball Final Four play Friday at Veterans Memorial Park.
Herkimer College General Ryan Packard (13) delivers a pitch against Erie Community College in NJCAA Region III Division III baseball Final Four play Friday at Veterans Memorial Park.

Right-hander Ryan Packard, a third-year freshman returning from an arm injury, pitched eight innings Friday afternoon and handed a 2-1 lead to Greg Farone, his left-handed counterpart. Farone had struck out 12 consecutive batters while keeping Thursday’s game close in relief of Patch and would add two more strikeouts Friday but not before the Kats loaded the bases with nobody out. Herkimer got the first out on a force play at home plate, and Farone fanned the next two batters.

Niagara beat Erie 3-2 to earn its spot in the championship round and determine Herkimer’s next opponent. Herkimer beat Finger Lakes 9-2 in the rematch and advanced to play Saturday.

Niagara needed one win Saturday while Herkimer needed two and a 7-5 Herkimer victory in Game 1 forced the decisive final game. The Generals built a 6-2 lead behind Joel Hayner but the Thunderwolves, playing as the home team, rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Herkimer changed pitchers twice before Luke Pusz got the last two outs with two Thunderwolves on base.

Pusz pitched the eighth inning and turned the ball over to Packard for the ninth. Packard pitched around back-to-back one-out errors and ended the game with a strikeout.

Awards

Birchard was selected as the tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-star team by Niagara teammates Fairbrother and Kyle Menaker.

NJCAA Region III Division III baseball Final Four most valuable player Ryan Birchard (center) poses with his plaque and all-star selections Kyle Menaker and Andrew Fairbrother from Niagara County Community College and Ryan Packard and Kyle Caccamise from Herkimer College (from left) following Saturday's championship game.
NJCAA Region III Division III baseball Final Four most valuable player Ryan Birchard (center) poses with his plaque and all-star selections Kyle Menaker and Andrew Fairbrother from Niagara County Community College and Ryan Packard and Kyle Caccamise from Herkimer College (from left) following Saturday's championship game.

Packard and Kyle Caccamise were the Herkimer all-stars, while Connor Desiderio and Adam Rankie were picked from Erie, and Georgetti and Tyler Cerame from Finger Lakes.

Wild Card?

The Generals were passed over for the national tournament last year but made a strong case again in 2022.

Herkimer earned a No. 6 final national ranking, split again with Niagara in the championship round of its regional tournament in addition to entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed, and beat then-No. 1 Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester twice in a three-game series late in the season.

No. 2 Gloucester and No. 5 Niagara were the last two teams ranked ahead of Herkimer without bids, and both clinched Saturday.

No. 1 Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, No. 3 Northern Essex Community College, No. 4 Dallas College-Eastfield, honorable mention Oakton Community College and unranked St. Cloud Technical and Community College had already clinched.

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Niagara wins final NJCAA regional baseball tournament in Little Falls