Baseball County Championship Preview: Calhoun vs. MacArthur

When a team plays throughout the season, their ultimate goal is to win a championship.

Now the Calhoun baseball team will have that chance as they will go to battle against top-seeded MacArthur at SUNY-Farmingdale, and the Colts are as hungry as ever.

"I think we stack up really well," coach Mike Marino said. "They have some good pitching, but we hit tremendously.  We led the league in home runs and runs scored."

The second-seeded Colts (18-5) clobbered 29 long balls this year thus far, which is 27 more than MacArthur has hit. Jake Thomas leads the way with seven.

MacArthur (20-3) will be sending their top starter Frankie Vanderka to the hill, and he has been nothing short of phenomenal. Vanderka (5-1) has struck out 51 in just 43 innings pitched, and he has also allowed just 28 hits and seven walks. That's not a whole lot of chances for an opposing team.

"You cannot over swing against him," Thomas said. "As hard as it's coming in, that means it will go that much further when you hit it."

Calhoun will be sending Joe Christopher to the mound, and he hasn't been too shabby either. Christopher (4-0) has a 3.12 ERA heading into the series, and he has held opposing batters to a .260 batting average, and his teammates are very comfortable with him on the hill.

"The key is throwing strikes and keeping the ball down," Thomas said. "We will be fine if we do that."

Calhoun and MacArthur have squared off twice thus far this year, and MacArthur came out victorious on both occasions by the scores of 1-0 and 6-2, but Mike Simon doesn't think this team is the same group that played those two games.

"We are much more together as a team now," Simon said. "Our hitting has been a lot better, and we have been so clutch. We haven't stopped fighting."

Calhoun has won three games this year when they have been down to their last strike in the seventh inning.

Farmingdale provides a different environment than the Colts are used to at Calhoun and the turf surface will be an adjustment as well, and Joey Saladino, who will start game one in right field, knows that the Colts need to address the issues accordingly.

"There's a really big outfield," Saladino said. "You need to be careful, because with the turf, the ball can bounce over your head. Defense is what this series is going to be all about."

MacArthur has some stellar hitters as well. Nick McQuail leads the way with a .397 batting average, and he and Vanderka are tied for the team lead in RBIs with 13. Vanderka also almost never strikes out, as he has done so in just three of 70 at-bats thus far this year. Limiting opportunities to the Generals is going to be important to the Colts' success.

"We need to keep changing speeds and keeping them off balance," John Mekelburg said. "You can't let them sit on one pitch."

Game one will be held at noon tomorrow at Farmingdale and game two will be at the same location on Tuesday at 7 p.m. If necessary, game three will be on Thursday night, with the start time to be announced at a later date.

The Colts mindset heading into the showdown can be summed up in two words: hungry and confident.

"I am looking forward to the challenge," Marino said. "I think we're going to win."