FINAL: New Hartford 4, Fort Schuyler 3

Welcome legion fans! It's Andrew Donovan here at Joe Corr Memorial Field at New Hartford Sr. High School. Fort Schuyler plays New Hartford in what is the first game of each team's season.

I'll be providing inning-by-inning updates throughout the game. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section. I'll try to answer your questions during the game, whether you want to talk legion baseball, the College World Series or anything else.

Starting line-ups:
New Hartford (0-0)
1. Joe Carcone, 2B
2. Joe Desens, DH
3. Joe Betar, SS
4. Mike Matt, CF
5. Mike Doyle, C
6. Erik Verbickas, 1B
7. Pat Calli, RF
8. Steve Bieganowski, LF
9. T.J. Zalocha
Pitcher: Erik Sheridan, LHP

Fort Schuyler (0-0)
1. Dan Priore, SS
2. Ed Schulze, 3B
3. Sean Redmond, P
4. Jordan Zongrone, 1B
5. Peter Clark, CF
6. Dominick Galimo, C
7. Jared Marshall, RF
8. Mike Rose, LF
9. Nick Raymer, 2B
Pitcher: Sean Redmond, RHP

Top 1st: Erik Sheridan started off a little wild for NH, going full on the first batter before inducing a deep fly out to left that Steve Bieganowski made a great grab on. Sheridan walked the next batter who advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher by No. 3 hitter Sean Redmond. Sheridan got Jordan Zongrone to ground out to second base to end the inning.

Bottom 1st: Joe Carcone got NH started with a double that one-hopped off the center field wall. Carcone advanced to third on a wild pitch and Joe Desens drew a walk to put runners on the corners with no outs. Fort pitcher Sean Redmond got Joe Betar looking on a curveball, but Desens stole second on the pitch. Clean-up hitter Mike Matt hit a sac fly to center field to score Carcone and Desens advanced to third on the play. NH 1, Fort 0. Mike Doyle flew out to left field for the final out of the inning.

NH 1, Fort 0

Top 2nd: Sheridan struck out Pete Clark on three pitches for the first out. Dominick Galimo followed with a groundout to second base. Sheridan then walked the next two batters, Jared Marshall and Mike Rose. Sheridan went full on the No. 9 hitter Nick Raymer, but got him to ground out to second to end the inning.

Bottom 2nd: Erik Verbickas grounded out to the shortstop for the first out. Pat Calli followed with a ground out to third. Bieganowski struck out swinging to end the inning.

NH 1, Fort 0

Top 3rd: Leadoff hitter Dan Priore hitter a grounder in the hole to the left side of the infield. NH shortstop Betar laid out and came up with it, but the throw was just late as Priore reached on an infield single. Ed Shulze bunted Priore over to second on the next pitch. Sean Redmond then grounded out to third for the second out, but Priore raced over to third on the throw to first. The next batter, Zongrone, walked, putting runners on the corners. Pete Clark hit a short chopper toward third, but NH third baseman T.J. Zalocha bobbled it, allowing Priore to score, Zongrone to get to second and Clark to reach first. Fort 1, NH 1. Galimo followed with a single down the left field line to load the bases with two outs. Sheridan then walked Marshall, bringing home a run. Fort 2, NH 1. A passed ball allowed another run to score in the next at-bat. Fort 3, NH 1. The batter then walked, Sheridan's sixth walk of the game, to load the bases again. Sheridan got Raymer to ground out to Zalocha, who stepped on third for the force out, to end the inning.

Bottom 3rd: Zolacha reached first on a dropped third stike. Carcone then reached on an error by Zongrone, the first baseman, and Zalocha went to second. Desens, after failing to get a bunt down twice, struck out looking. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch with Betar at-bat. Betar belted a single between the shortstop and third baseman, bringing home Zalocha. Carcone went to third and Betar got to second on the throw to the cutoff. Fort 3, NH 2. Redmond walked Matt to load the bases with one out. Doyle struck out looking for the second out. Redmond then struck out his third batter of the inning, getting Verbickas swinging.

Fort 3, NH 2

Top 4th: Priore walked to lead off the inning forcing NH manager John Randall to pull Sheridan in favor of Dan Nelson. Sheridan's final line: 3 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 2 ER, 1 K, 7 BB. Nelson got Schulze looking after Doyle cut down Priore trying to steal two pitches before. Redmond grounded out to third to end the inning.

Bottom 4th: Pat Calli struck out looking for the first out. Priore, Fort's shortstop, then made a web gem, diving up the middle to snag a Bieganowski grounder, hopping to his feet and throwing him out at first. Zalocha reached on an errant throw by the third baseman. He advanced to second on the play. Carcone, the leadoff hitter, was then intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Desens loaded the bases, beating out a dribbler toward third. Zalocha scored in the next at-bat on a passed ball. NH 3, Fort 3. Priore bobbled a Betar grounder, allowing Carcone to score and Desens to advance to third. NH 4, Fort 3. Matt flew out to center to end the inning.

NH 4, Fort 3

Top 5th: Zongrone grounded out to Verbickas at first and Clark popped out to Carcone at second for the first two outs. Galimo hit a two-out single. Nelson got Marshall looking for the third out.

Bottom 5th: Doyle struck out looking for the first out. Verbickas flew out to left and Calli followed with a deep flyball out to center to end the inning.

NH 4, Fort 3

Top 6th: Rose struck out swinging and Raymer grounded out to short for the first two outs. Priore drew a two-out walk, but Schulze grounded to Betar who flipped it over to Carcone for the force at second, ending the inning.

Bottom 6th: Redmond struck out Bieganowski and Zalocha to get the first two outs. Carcone grounded out weakly to second for the inning's last out.

NH 4, Fort 3

*The 3, 4, 5 hitters are coming up for Fort. They must score at least one run to extend the game.

Top 7th: Redmond popped out to second for the first out. Nelson then got Zongrone swinging on a curveball. Betar scooped up a Clark grounder and fired it over to first to end the game.

FINAL: New Hartford 4, Fort Schuyler 3