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Warriors, Flyers earn share of ECIC-III title
Thanks to some outside help and by taking care of their own business in their final league games, the Cheektowaga Central and Maryvale varsity baseball teams earned a tie for first place with Starpoint in Erie County Interscholastic Conference-III, respectively.
The Warriors, picked by many outsiders to finish in the middle of the pack or lower because of new starters appearing at every position but shortstop, defeated league opponent Tonawanda on the road Tuesday, 7-3, as junior Jonah Messina and sophomore Tyler Molina each contributed two hits at the plate.
With the win, Central finished 9- 3 in league play. Maryvale- which shut out local rival Depew on Monday- and Starpoint, which lost to league foe Pioneer on Tuesday, also both finished 9-3 in league play.
Central, Maryvale and Starpoint, as well as Williamsville East (9-3 in ECIC-II), will finish within the top four seeds of Class A, with coin flips determining the order of seeds.
"It's nice to gain a piece of the division championship," said Central head coach Dan Kaplan, who obtained his fourth league title in eight seasons as Warriors coach. "The banner for 2007 will go up as division champs along with the others we have."
Maryvale (10-4 overall) could have finished in first place by itself if it had beaten winless league opponent Springville on the road Friday. The Flyers lost to the Griffins 6-5 as a late-inning chance went by the board.
In the top of the seventh inning, Maryvale put runners on second and third bases with one out. However, after Springville brought its infield in to cut off the tying run, Flyers junior Ryan Domkowski hit a liner directly at the Griffins' second baseman, who caught the ball and stepped on second base to double off a Maryvale runner.
"It was a long bus ride home," Flyers head coach Kurt Hansen said of the loss.
Senior Matt Mohr, whose 14- game hitting streak recently ended, homered and scored two runs.
Against Depew, Domkowski hurled a one-hitter on the mound in a 3-0 victory, allowing only a third-inning double to Wildcats junior Zak Sauer. Domkowski also struck out four without walking a batter.
At the plate, senior Mike Martin contributed RBI singles in the fourth and sixth innings. Junior Shane Latshaw plated Maryvale's other run on a groundout.
The Wildcats, who ended their league schedule in fourth place at 5-7 (currently 6-8 overall), upended Tonawanda twice in recent action, 8-2 last Wednesday and 9-4 Friday.
On Wednesday, senior pitcher Cody Stachewicz went the distance on the mound, hurling six strikeouts. On Friday, senior first baseman Bryan Aichinger led the way, going 3-4 with five RBI.
A postseason seeding meeting will take place Tuesday. Playoffqualifying games will be played next Thursday. Central, Maryvale and Depew earned byes and will play May 25 in the prequarterfinals.
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