Playoff Hopes Kept Alive as New Hartford Upsets Helmuth Ingalls

Offense comes together ; team rallies at right time to lead New Hartford to victory

When Vin Servadio stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning, he had one thing in mind: wait for the fastball, and take a cut at it. "The fastball was pretty flat, and the ball was carrying nicely this evening, so I knew if I saw my pitch, I could take a good cut at it." Servadio got his pitch, and boy did he take it for a ride. "We can only imagine how far the ball would have gone if my back wasn't so stiff," Servadio said with a smile.

Servadio's homerun broke a 6-6 tie and proved to be the winning run. New Hartford posted one more run in the bottom of the fifth, but Servadio's bomb proved to be all the support New Hartford needed. The team held off a couple Helmuth rallies in the sixth and seventh innings, getting out of bases loaded jam in both innings. The defense, which looked a tad shaky throughout, came up big in clutch time when it needed to.

Offense was not Servadio's only specialty this evening. Servadio filled in at shortstop for an injured Stephen Tomaino, who took a grounder to the eye in warmups and couldn't play. "The last time I played shortstop I ended up in the hospital, so I was definitely uncomfortable throughout. But, I wasn't about to second guess coach- you don't do that. At the end of the day, it was all for Stevey, and it was all for the team. I'd do anything for my team."

Servadio stayed true to his word of doing anything for his team, as he came in to close. Servadio relishes the role of closer, which he was forced into after his shoulder surgery. "I feed off the crowd. I guess it's safe to say I thrive under pressure." That Servadio does, as he has done extremely well in his role as the closer for this young New Hartford team.

Although Servadio stole the show this evening, starter Billy Cougan did his job against a dangerous Helmuth team. "The start didn't go as I expected; they came out to play," Cougan said of Helmuth. To be honest, my shoulder was hurting all night, and I didn't settle down like I wanted. But I managed to fight through it and take the game one batter at a time." Cougan felt he hit his spots well, but could have been more prepared in the field when the ball was in play.

Helmuth came out swinging, jumping on New Hartford early in the first. But, there 2-0 lead was erased by a Cooper Brown two run dinger hit over the left center field wall. New Hartford tacked on another run in the first, and never trailed from then on out. Twice Helmuth even the score at 4-4 and 6-6, but the New Hartford bats kept coming alive when they needed to.

This game was key for New Hartford, keeping their playoff hopes alive. New Hartford came into the game 6-5 in ninth place, needing a win to keep pace in the playoff race. Up next for New Hartford is a game against Smith Post in Rome, NY at Delutis Field. The game is a continuation of a tie game that was called due to darkness. If New Hartford could squeak out a "W" tomorrow, things will be looking good for their playoff chances. The first pitch will be thrown at 6:00 P.M. and none other than Vin Servadio will be on the mound for New Hartford.

Bats silenced as New Hartford handed their first loss

Team buries themselves with errors; offense struggles

After a 3-0 start to the season, the New Hartford Post baseball team felt the agony of defeat for the first time Sunday night. New Hartford was shutout at home 8-0 by Adrean Post in a game that was an overall struggle for the young New Hartford team.

In what can only be described as a lackluster performance, New Hartford dug themselves in a hole early. The first inning was riddled with a variety of errors for New Hartford. Wild pitches, past balls, and botched routine plays in both the infield and the outfield led to 4 first inning runs for Adrean. The team came out flat and looked uneasy, showing their youth against an experienced Adrean team. The hole that New Hartford dug themselves in proved to be too much to overcome.
  

At the plate, the New Hartford hitters have certainly seen better days. The team managed only 3 hits and struck out eleven times. New Hartford was stymied by Adrean's young starter Austin Smith. The harder throwing righty had control issues throughout the game, but whenever New Hartford started to get runners on base Smith and Adrean's defense squashed any hopes of a New Hartford rally.

The score remained 4-0 until the seventh inning when young New Hartford pitcher Steve Pardi came in for relief. Pardi was hit hard by Adrean, giving up a walk and 3 hits in his limited time on the mound. Tory King replaced Pardi and recorded the final two outs of the seventh, but not before the score was 8-0 in favor of Adrean.

The lone bright spot for New Hartford was starting pitcher Tyler Porter. The lefty watched his defense crumble around him in the first inning, and still managed to stay focused, allowing his team to stay in the game. Porter threw 109 pitches through 6 1/3 innings, walked 6, struck out 6, and allowed only 3 hits, a quality start by any standard. Porter's off speed pitches had Adrean hitters baffled for most of the game.

It was expected that at some point this season the youth of New Hartford would be exposed, and this was the game it showed up in. The good news for New Hartford is that the season, much like their lineup, is still young, and they have plenty of time to grow and mesh together as a team. New Hartford at 3-1 needs to use this game as a learning experience and move forward.

Up next for New Hartford is a visit to Holland Patent Monday evening. New Hartford looks to get back on track against an undefeated Roberts Post team. The first pitch will be thrown at 5:30 P.M. Veteran righty Billy Cougan will be on the mound.

New Hartford Post Opens Season with Resounding "W"

Bats, Pitching Fuel Team's 1st Victory

The New Hartford Post American Legion baseball team opened its season with a comfortable 9-2 victory at home over Herkimer Post Monday evening. New Hartford played a superior all around game, proving themselves capable of hitting, fielding, and pitching at a level higher than their opponent.

Starting catcher Tim Whalen had a superb game on both offense and defense. After a Nick Decrisi RBI double in the bottom of the fourth inning, Whalen belted a 2-run shot to bust the game open 9-2 in favor of New Hartford. "I loved it," said Whalen. "[it was my] first hit of the season, [I] can't feel any better. He walked me my first at bat, after that I knew exactly what to look for." Whalen went 2 for 3 with a walk and a single on the evening. In addition to his stellar offensive performance, Whalen made some solid defensive plays, stopping the ball from escaping to the backstop on multiple occasions, and catching difficult pop-ups in foul territory.

Starting pitcher Tyler Porter looked a tad shaky at the beginning of the game, hitting the second batter he faced. However, the experienced lefty settled in nicely and quickly retired the number 3 and 4 hitters from Herkimer. Porter allowed only 2 earned runs through 5 innings, both of which came in the top of the second, one on an RBI double and another when catcher Tim Whalen picked off the runner at 1st base. 5 of the fifteen outs recorded while Porter was on the mound were strikeouts. When asked how he felt he did, Porter said he thought he did well, but not as well as he wanted to. "[I had] too many walks." Coming off an above average varsity season in which his team lost in the section final, Porter has high hopes for the Legion team this summer. "We're lookin[g] good, if we keep hitting, pitching, and fielding the ball like we did tonight, we'll have a solid team."

New Hartford set the tone early with a 5 run inning in the bottom of the first. After New Hartford's first 3 batters got on base (Mike Szczesniak, Vin Servadio, and Nick Decrisi), Whalen walked in the first run of the game. Immediately following Whalen, left Fielder and number 5 hitter Billy Cougan was hit by a pitch on the left arm, bringing in another run. Second basemen Joey Donovan laced an RBI single to left-center, tacking on another 2 runs for New Hartford. First basemen Kris Martinelli then hit a fielders choice RBI to shortstop to make the score 5-0.

The team proved tonight they could play solid defense. Shortstop Steven Tomaino, Donovan, Martinelli and Servadio all made good plays in the field. "Tonight answered alot of questions for me," said Whalen. "It was a team effort. We knew we could hit, but we proved we could play D and pitch well. Our young guys stepped up, which is [something we need]. It was a great team effort."

Whalen was indeed correct about the "young guys on the team". With key losses from last years team including New Hartford's dangerous "Triple Joe" threat consisting of Joe Carcone, Joe Betar, and Joe Desens, up and coming players like Tomaino and Donovan proved they can hang with the older guys. Also showing some promise was Tory King, who played the role of setup man. King allowed 0 earned runs and only 1 hit while recording 1 strikeout during his inning of work.

Vin Servadio closed the game for New Hartford. He struck out 2, including the last batter of the game. With limited pitching, Servadio could be a key piece of the puzzle for New Hartford in terms of their success. New Hartford looks to keep their winning ways going Wednesday against Fort Schuyler at Delutis Field 2 in Rome. The game will be played at 6 P.M.