Smith wins Oneida County title

4:04 p.m.: The Smith-New Hartford county championship game is under a short delay due to heavy rain that passed through the area and soaked DeLutis Field. No official start time has been announced, but the rain has stopped and the grounds crew is fixing up the field.

4:20 p.m.: The rain has started up again. The grounds crew did a nice job of cleaning up the field from the first down pour, but it seems that their efforts may have to be repeated soon. Tarps are still down on the pitcher's mound and around home plate, and have been down since the conclusion of the New Hartford-Utica game.

4:37 p.m.: It's still raining here at DeLutis, albeit not as hard as it was earlier. But, the tarps are still down and there has been no activity by the grounds crew since it first touched up the infield about 20 minutes ago.

4:52 p.m.: The skies are starting to clear and the sun is peaking out. The grounds crew is spreading quick dry over some wet spots of the infield and pulling the tarps off of the pitchers mound and home plate. Smith's players are getting loose, playing catch in right field. Still no official start time.

5:06 p.m.: The skies have cleared and the field is looking pretty good considering all the heavy rain that came through in the last two hours. Smith just took the infield for warm-ups. Only the starters are on the field as it looks like an abbreviated warm-up session to speed things up. New Hartford's Erik Sheridan is warming up in the bullpen. Joe Melioris will take the hill on three days rest for Smith. New Hartford coach Greg Jones just told me that the game's tentative start time is now 5:30 p.m.

While we're waiting, let me fill you guys in on the recent history between these two rivals who are meeting to decide the county championship for the third straight year.

In 2006, New Hartford topped Adrean in the losers bracket final to set up a rematch with Smith, who beat New Hartford in the winners bracket final. New Hartford would beat Smith twice to claim the Oneida County crown. Last year, Smith went a perfect 4-0 in the county playoffs, capturing the 2007 title by beating losers bracket survivor New Hartford.

So what will happen this year? Will Smith repeat last year's perfect run through the counties, or will New Hartford find the magic of 2006 and take down the one-seed twice for the crown?

Starting lineups:
(1) Smith (21-0)
1. Kyle Richardson, CF
2. Ryan Kramer, SS
3. Nate Mallinder, LF
4. Jason Nowicki, RF
5. Zack Ciccotti, C
6. Rocco DeBlasiis, DH
7. Eli Hendrington, 3B
8. Ryan Marquette, 1B
9. Mike Stevens, 2B
Pitcher: Joe Melioris, RHP

(2) New Hartford (15-6)
1. Joe Desens, DH
2. Joe Carcone, 2B
3. Mike Matt, CF
4. Eric Verbickas, 1B
5. Mike Doyle, C
6. Dan Nelson, 3B
7. Pat Calli, RF
8. T.J. Zalocha, LF
9. Joe Betar, SS
Pitcher: Erik Sheridan, LHP

Before we get started, here's my prediction on the championship round: New Hartford. We all know about Smith's 2-0 15-inning victory over New Hartford back in June, and last night's 3-0 victory over the Gold Division champion. But, I think New Hartford is going to surprise Smith and pitcher Joe Melioris after he one-hit them in the first meeting. Call me crazy, but I know New Hartford Post baseball, and I know what kind of motivators they have in manager John Randall and coach Greg Jones. When New Hartford took the state title in 2006, it lost its first three meetings against Smith (two in the regular season and the winners bracket final of the counties), but New Hartford came back and won two straight over Smith to take the Oneida County crown and then beat Smith again in the Districts to even the season series at three apiece. Now, I know these are not the same teams as they were that year, but I have a feeling New Hartford is going to recapture the magic of 2006 and take two in a row off of Smith to even the season series and take the county title.

5:25 p.m.: We've just gotten underway, an hour and 25 minutes later than schedule.

Top 1st: Desens grounded out to Hendrington at third for the first out. Carcone grounded out to Hendrington for the second out. Matt grounded out to Kramer at short for the third out.

*Despite going down in order, New Hartford looks like it is ready for Melioris and on his fastball having hit three foul tips straight back at the backstop.

Bottom 1st: Richardson grounded out to Sheridan on the mound for the first out. Kramer was hit in the foot by a pitch. Mallinder got plunked to put runners on first and second with one out. Nowicki grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Smith 0, New Hartford 0

Top 2nd: Verbickas hit a groundball to Stevens at second, but he bobbled it and then threw too high to Marquette, allowing Verbickas to reach on an error. Doyle grounded out 4-3, putting Verbickas at second with one out. Nelson struck out looking for the second out. Calli grounded out to second for the third out, stranding Verbickas at second.

Bottom 2nd: Ciccotti hit a deep fly ball to left field, but it was snagged on the run by Zalocha for the first out. DeBlasiis grounded out to Verbickas at first for the second out. Hendrington grounded out to short to end the inning, completing a 10-pitch inning for Sheridan.

Smith 0, New Hartford 0

Top 3rd: Zalocha struck out looking on a fastball that caught the outside corner. Betar took a two-strike curveball the other way into right field for a single. Desens gave himself up, bunting Betar to second to put a runner on second with two outs. Carcone couldn't take advantage of the runner in scoring position, grounding out to Stevens at second for the third out.

Bottom 3rd: Marquette grounded out to Carcone at second for the first out. Stevens grounded out to Nelson at third for the second out. Richardson reached on a throwing error by Betar as the shortstop double clutched and then short-hopped the throw to first. Kramer walked to put runners on first and second with two down. Mallinder squeeked an RBI single through the middle of the infield to put Smith on top. Smith 1, New Hartford 0. Kramer beat Matt's throw to third and Mallinder advanced to second on the throw. Nowicki flew out to Matt in center to end the inning, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Smith 1, New Hartford 0

Top 4th: Matt struck out swinging for the first out. Verbickas ripped a single up the middle to put a runner on first with one out. Doyle struck out looking at an offspeed pitch for the second out. Nelson struck out swinging for the third out.

*New Hartford's Pat Derrane has come on to pitch in place of Sheridan.

Bottom 4th: Ciccotti ripped a single into right-center to lead off. DeBlasiis flew out to Matt in left-center for the first out. Hendrington grounded a single through the hole and into left to put runners on first and second with one out. Marquette grounded out to first for the second out, but the runners advanced to second and third. Stevens grounded out to short to end the inning, stranding two runners in scoring position.

Smith 1, New Hartford 0

Top 5th: Calli drew a walk to lead off. Zalocha put down a 1-3 sacrifice bunt, moving Calli to second. Betar grounded out to short for the second out, but Calli moved to third on the play. Desens took a called third strike for the third out, stranding the tying run just 90 feet away.

*New Hartford changes: Desens, who was the DH, has moved to third. Tim Whalen has taken Doyle's spot at catcher.

Bottom 5th: Richardson struck out swinging, just his fifth strike out of the season, but wound up on second as the pitch was in the dirt and Whalen's throw to first sailed over the head of Verbickas and in right field for a two-base error. Kramer poked an RBI single to right field to bring home Richardson who was stealing on the pitch. Smith 2, New Hartford 0. Kramer stole second. Mallinder ripped an RBI single (his second of the game) up the middle to plate Kramer. Smith 3, New Hartford 0. Mallinder stole second. Nowicki grounded out to short for the first out, but Mallinder went to third on the play. Ciccotti ripped the first pitch from Derrane for an RBI single up the middle. Smith 4, New Hartford 0. DeBlasiis grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

Smith 4, New Hartford 0

Top 6th: Carcone grounded out to the shortstop for the first out. Matt hit a weak groundball at Kramer and beat the throw to first for an infield single. Matt went to second on a passed ball. Verbickas struck out swinging for the second out. Whalen popped out to Marquette in foul territory for the third out.

*New Hartford changes: Tyler Porter came on to pitch. Alex Giovannone took Verbickas' place at first. Mike Bower took Desens' spot at third. Desens moved to third and Betar came out of the game.

Bottom 6th: Hendrington worked a walk to lead off. Marquette popped out to Carcone who made a nice running catch in shallow right field for the first out. Ryan Cooke has come on to bat for Stevens. Hendrington stole second and then advanced to third as Whalen's throw skidded into center field. Cooke hit an RBI single up the middle to bring home Hedrington. Smith 5, New Hartford 0. Richardson grounded to Carcone at second who tagged Cooke for the first out, but his throw to first was just late to complete the double play, allowing Richardson to reach on a fielder's choice. Richardson stole second. Kramer walked on a wild pitch from Porter that allowed Richardson to move to third (first and third, two outs). Mallinder hit his third RBI single of the game, bringing home Richardson and moving Kramer to second. Smith 6, New Hartford 0. Nowicki popped out to the shortstop to end the inning.

*Smith is just three outs away from winning the Oneida County title and moving to 22-0 on the season against Oneida County teams.

*Smith changes: Matt Wanner has come in to catch. Hendrington moved from third to second. Nowicki moved from right field to third, and Cooke slid into his spot in right.

Top 7th: Melioris picked up his eighth strike out of the game, getting Porter swinging. Calli struck out swinging on three pitches for the second out. Zalocha became Melioris' 10th strike out victim, whiffing at a fastball to end it.

FINAL: Smith 6, New Hartford 0

*With the win, Smith captures the Oneida County championship for the second straight year. Check back later for more, including details on next week's District V tournament...