Taconic Hills baseball hoists first sectional championship plaque in 30 years

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- With teams like unbeaten Mechanicville and top-seeded Schuylerville headlining the Section II, Class B baseball tournament, not many eyes were on Taconic Hills to emerge from the deep, 16-team field.

But the Titans battled through the first two rounds of the bracket, knocked off Mechanicville and Wednesday afternoon, completed their sectional journey with a 9-0 victory over Schuylerville at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium to claim the program's first section title since 1994.

"We've always been counted out...but not now," said junior third baseman Gavin Hartka, who also joked he'd be missing school Friday. "Mechanicville...that was a big win the other day...that was our momentum. [It's] just amazing; I have no words. I'm so happy for our team, and just for the school. This is insane."

Hartka fueled a hot start for Taconic Hills with an RBI single in the top of the first inning that started the scoring. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Francis Conners-Schmid lofted a fly ball out to center field that was tracked down by Luke Sherman, but was deep enough to allow Maky Kirby to tag up from third and score, giving the Titans an early 2-0 edge.

They'd tack on another run in the fourth on an RBI single from Zach Rowe before erupting for six runs in the seventh frame to put the game away.

The offense didn't need to do much, though, with senior Brandon Rossano on the bump. He and Rowe have formed a formidable 1-2 punch this season. After Rowe tossed a gem Monday against Mechanicville, it was Rossano's turn to dazzle on Wednesday.

Rossano went the distance, adding eight strikeouts to go along with his shutout victory.

"We knew we were the better team," said Rossano. "We knew we had to get on 'em early; attack their pitcher well, and that's what we did today. We had a tough loss to Tamarac in the first round [last year]. We've had this feeling - since the beginning of the year - that we had a really good chance this year. And we finally did it."

Rowe, Hartka and Tyler Mulrein all had multi-hit performances. Rowe went 4-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Hart racked up three hits in four at-bats to go along with his one RBI, and Mulrein went 2-4. Conners-Schmid finished with two RBI, while Jacob Alvarez and Troy Super each drove in a run as well.

Taconic Hills moves on to the state tournament, where it will host a sub-regional game against the Section VII champion at Dutchman Park in Guilderland Thursday, May 30.

Schuylerville finishes the season with a 19-5 overall record.