Shrub Oak Baseball Team Loses to Newburgh

When Shrub Oak's American Legion baseball squad, 19 years old and under,cut the Newburgh Nuclears' lead to 5-3 after three innings, it looked like the team was going to make a comeback Monday evening at Lakeland High School.

But Newburgh then had five runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth inning, which helped them earn a 14-5 triumph against Shrub Oak (6-6).

 "I have been doing this about 15 years and this probably is our youngest team, so we are going through a little period where we are trying to feel ourselves out and see where we are going to be," Shrub Oak coach Anthony Fiore said. "We may take our lumps this year but the big thing for us is the legion playoffs, which start July 17. Everything is really geared to get our ballplayers ready for that."

Catcher Dave Manning led off Shrub Oak's half of the second with a single and eventually scored on a base hit by left fielder Rob Tomasulo. Center fielder Eric Giancola also singled and scored on a wild pitch.

After Newburgh scored two more runs in the top of the third, Shrub Oak again showed its resiliency by scoring a single run in the bottom of the inning. Shortstop Brian Wallace, who went 2 for 3, singled and scored on a single by catcher Andres Laramedi.

"I just took batting practice before the game and I was just feeling comfortable at the plate," Wallace said. "My swing was feeling good and I saw the ball well."

Wallace not only had a good night at the plate, he showed creativity on the bases. On the play where he scored the run, the throw from the outfield beat him to the plate, but somehow he avoided the tag from the catcher to score.

"You are coming down, three quarters of the way from third, you see the catcher catching the ball and all you are thinking is that you have to get that little corner of the plate and I was able to get my fingers around the corner of the plate," Wallace said. "I found it and just swiped it."

Wallace's run that pulled them to within two is as close as the host got to the visitors. Shrub Oak third baseman Matt Bidwell singled and scored on a triple by center fielder Matt Pihota, who scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to conclude the game's scoring.

Shrub Oak will now look to rebound when it plays in the Super 6 Tournament in Utica from June 30 to July 3.

"It represents a lot of New York teams, a couple of legion teams, mostly upstate teams, so we will get to see a different group of pitchers and ballplayers," Fiore said. "It's good to see different types of pitching, where the caliber is a little higher than around this area here. To play against different teams where the competition is better will help everyone improve their game."

Wallace is confident that his squad will bounce back from its loss to Newburgh.

"We are going to win games and advance into the later rounds in Utica," Wallace said. "We just have to come back with the pitching, have no errors in the field, hit the ball and we will be fine."