Calhoun can't rally this time in state semifinal loss
Sanford H Calhoun's Brian Chin pitches against Hamburg in the second inning during state championships semi finals in Endicott on Friday, June 10, 2022 Credit: Thomas La Barbera
ENDICOTT, N.Y. — Calhoun faced elimination three times in this baseball postseason only to rise up, rally and advance. Not so on Friday.
The Colts trailed by five runs entering the seventh inning against Section VI champion Hamburg in the teams’ state Class A semifinal and did rise up and rally. They pushed a pair of runs across and then brought the tying run to the plate twice. But they did not advance as Bulldogs righthander Nolan Smith reached down to get something extra and recorded a pair of strikeouts to complete a 6-3 Hamburg victory at Union-Endicott’s Pete Sylvester Field.
Hamburg (18-5), which reached the state tournament under extraordinary circumstances, will meet Section II champion Averill Park for the title on Saturday. The Bulldogs lost their sectional title game on the field to Elma (N.Y.) Iroquois but received a forfeit victory because the opposing pitcher exceeded the state-mandated limit on pitches.
“We’d hit the ball on the button all day only to have the wind knock them down or their guys make nice plays,” Calhoun coach Art Canestro said. “I knew we had gas left in the tank going into that last inning and we made a little run. We just fell short.”
Calhoun (26-4) also reached the state semifinals in 2002 and 2012 but has yet to play in a title game.
Smith made quick work of the free-swinging Calhoun order over the first three innings, retiring all nine hitters he faced on just 23 pitches. The Colts tied the score at 1 in the top of the fourth when Joey Goodman led off with a single to center, took second on a groundout and scored on Brian Chin’s single to center.
Hamburg took the lead back for good in the bottom of the fourth on Smith's solo home run to left centerfield. It went up 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fifth with the usually smooth-fielding Colts making a pair of errors. Chin gave up two more runs n the sixth on two walks and two hits.
“I left too many pitches up and I didn’t mix my pitches up enough,” said Chin, who struck out seven in six innings but allowed a season-high five earned runs.
Smith pounded the strike zone and mostly let his fielders do the work. He needed just 80 pitches for the complete-game five-hitter, 23 of them in the last frame. He retired the Colts in order on five pitches twice and on seven pitches once.
“We knew they’d be aggressive at the plate so the goal was to throw strikes and make the plays,” Smith said.
“There are times when you can work a pitcher hard, but its tough when he’s throwing so many strikes,” Alec Edwards said. “We squared up a lot of balls. They made a lot of plays.”
Charlie Imhof’s RBI single with none out in the seventh made it 6-2 and Edwards’ run-scoring single with one out made it 6-3. They were on the corners when Smith snuffed the Calhoun rally.
“I told them I've never been more proud of a team than I am right now,” Canestro said. “What they did is incredible. There’s 768 baseball teams in New York State and they were one of the final four standing in [Class] A. That’s pretty remarkable.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
