Mediaboss Marketing

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -It had been nearly two years, to the day, since the last time Shen and Saratoga's baseball teams played each other. It took a Memorial Day weekend night game on Saturday to end that stretch, featuring the latest Battle of I-87.

"This has been going on since 2017," said Shen's Cal Vander Veer with a big smile, as he checked the date on the Battle of I-87 trophy. "Basically whenever we play each other we bring it and if you win you get to keep it until the next time."

Saturday night also marked the first time the Battle would be played at Saratoga's new home field at East Side Recreation Park, although it would end in disappointment for the Blue Streaks. The Plainsmen brought the large glove back to Clifton Park with a 4-2 victory.

Saratoga jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, when Zander Teator doubled to center field, scoring Ryan Ash, who had reached on a walk.

In the top of the third, Brody Vincenzi would begin his big day, knocking inDavid Gustafson with a base hit to center, trying the game at one. Later in the inning, Guiseppe D'Elia would reach on an error by Ryan Ash at shortstop, allowing Vincenzi to score on the play and giving Shen a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Ash quickly made up for the mistake in the bottom half of the inning, lining a home run to left field to tie the game.

With the game still tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Colin Maloney doubled to lead off for Shen. Jacek Strain was then told to drop a sacrifice bunt, but was able to reach on the play. Cal Vander Veer would then come up to the plate with runners on first and third and one out.

"I saw Colin on third and coming up I was just thinking 'I have to hit it to the outfield'. There was only one out, so I knew I had a job to do, but I actually missed the suicide squeeze sign," Vander Veer explained. "But anything can happen in baseball and I just rolled with it."

While Shen coach Greg Christodulu had a squeeze play in mind to get the go-ahead run across and Vander Veer's thoughts were on a sacrifice fly, neither of those things happened. What did happen is Vander Veer hitting a chopper in the third base-shortstop hole. Evan Owens was able to snag it, but his only play was to first, as Maloney had a good secondary lead on third and broke home on contact.

The next batter for Shen would be Brody Vincenzi, with a runner on second and two outs.

"I'm just trying to put the ball in play," Vincenzi said. "You know Toga's gonna come out and try to put up some more runs."

The senior outfielder would double in the left-center field gap, driving in Strain and giving Shen a 4-2 lead.

"It relieved the whole team. It gave Sean (Flaherty) some insurance and we just played good defense and were able to come out with the win. In tight games like this, if we play defense and get timely hits, we're going to win every game."

Vincenzi's RBI double knocked out Saratoga ace, Patrick Deschaine, who battled through 5.1 innings, allowing four runs - three earned - on eight hits and five walks. He struck out five in the loss.

Ryan Pittz, who started the game for Shen, went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits and three walks, as he earned the win. Will Shea took over in the sixth, and Nathan Rodriguez would try to get the Streaks gong with a pinch-hit double. It would go to waste as Shea was able to work out of it.

Sean Flaherty then took over in the bottom of the seventh, looking to pick up the save. After Michael Mack reached on a pinch-hit infield single, he was erased on a double play, as Flaherty finished out the inning with Ryan Ash left in the on-deck circle.

With the win, Shen is now 10-4 overall this season and have won nine games in a row.

"The first couple of games were a little rocky, but we've really come together as a team," Vander Veer said. "We build off of each other's energy and it's a great thing what we've been able to do the last nine games."

The Blue Streaks fell to 7-9 with the loss.

BATTLE OF I-87 HISTORY

Since the glove started being passed around in 2017, all of Shen's and Saratoga's matchups against each other have been either one or two-run games, including the latest installment.

The last time the teams faced off was on May 30, 2019, nearly two years to the day of Saturday's game. There was a bit more at stake in the 2019 game, as it was the Section 2 semifinals - a painful memory for the Blue Streaks.

Evan Jones had shut-out Saratoga for the first six innings of that game. Nate Chudy had held Shen to just two runs, as the Plainsmen took a 2-0 lead to the seventh. In the top of the seventh after Shen ace Brendan Disonell took the mound, Chudy drove home Ryan Dolan and Christian Kondo with a two-run single, to tie the game. In the bottom half of the inning, Jake Reinisch smacked a walk-off single to left, scoring Patrick McGuire, as the Plainsmen began their run to the 2019 New York State Championship game.

East Side Recreation Park

Saratoga Springs, NY

SHENENDEHOWA 0-0-2-0-0-2-0 -- 4-8-0

SARATOGA 1-0-1-0-0-0-0 -- 2-8-2

WP:Ryan Pittz; LP:Patrick Deschaine; HLD:Will Shea; SV: Sean Flaherty

2B: Colin Maloney (SHEN), Brody Vincenzi (SHEN),Nathan Rodriguez (SAR), Alex Teator (SAR)

HR: Ryan Ash (SAR)

RBI: Cal Vander Veer (SHEN), Brody Vincenzi 2 (SHEN), Ryan Ash (SAR), Alex Teator (SAR)

SHEN PITCHING

Ryan Pittz 5.0 IP, 2R, 2ER, 6H, 3BB, 2K, W; Will Shea: 1.0 IP, 0R, 1H, 2K, HLD; Sean Flaherty: 1.0 IP, 0R, 1H, SV

SARATOGA PITCHING

Patrick Deschaine 5.1 IP, 4R, 3ER, 8H, 5BB, 5K, L;Mateo Avila: 1.1 IP, 0R, 1BB

Read this article:
HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL: Shen defeats Saratoga 4-2 to win Battle of I-87 after a nearly two-year hiatus - The Saratogian