SYRACUSE — Eddie Hayden and the Watertown baseball team had battled their way all through this season.
This including making an unlikely run through the Section 3 playoffs to reach the Class AA final.
On Sunday, Hayden and the Cyclones pushed top-seeded and reigning champion West Genesee to the limit.
Hayden pitched five strong innings before the Wildcats broke through by scoring six runs in the sixth inning and went on to blank the seventh-seeded Cyclones, 6-0, in the sectional title game held at Onondaga Community College.
Hayden, who has carried the team from the mound this year, was thrust into a pitching duel with West Genesee’s Colin Crinnin.
Both pitchers were locked in, with both working efficiently through the game before the Wildcats generated a big inning in the sixth to pull ahead.
“The energy was high, the spirits were high, but couldn’t get it done,” Hayden, a junior right-hander, said. “But I’m so proud of what this team’s accomplished.”
Crinnin fired a complete-game shutout, striking out 12, as West Genesee (19-4) claimed its third consecutive sectional championship.
Hayden pitched a complete game of his own in taking the loss in Watertown, which finishes its season at 9-14.
“Well each year is a different year, but this was a difficult game, we knew we were in for it,” West Genesee coach Kevin Krause said. “I didn’t care what Watertown’s record was, I saw them play against (Fayetteville-Manlius), I watched them play against Whitesboro and they are a gritty group. I knew we were going to face a stud today, he (Hayden) was even better than I thought he was going to be.”
The Cyclones also made their first sectional final appearance in baseball in more than three decades.
“We took it into the sixth scoreless and kept battling in there, but again, we ran out of gas,” Watertown coach Riley Moonan said.
West Genesee, which is ranked No. 4 in the state in Class AA, batted around in the sixth, as after loading the bases, sparked by an infield single by Austin Glowacki, Brayden Fougnier and Nathan Creaser each walked to drive in a run for a 2-0 lead.
After Nathan Quirk hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right field, Fougnier scored on a passed ball to push the advantage to 4-0.
Then after the Wildcats loaded the bases again, Glowacki hit a two-run single to center field to extend the advantage to six runs.
“I just try to keep my composure,” said Hayden, who grinded it out on Sunday by throwing 117 pitches. “Letting an umpire or a bad call take away what I’m doing is, I just try not to do that. I just try and stay focused.”
“I’m really proud of our guys how we fought in our at bats,” Krause said. “The first time through he absolutely dominated us, we made some adjustments and I think he wore down a little bit at the end, and that’s what our offense can do.”
Watertown had scoring chances early on as they had two runners on in the first inning, but West Genesee turned a double play.
Hayden allowed a base runner to reach base in each of the first five innings, but held strong, striking out five over that span as West Genesee didn’t advance a runner into scoring position until the sixth.
“Eddie threw phenomenally,” Moonan said. “The West Genesee coach gave him a nice compliment and said that he the top arm they’ve seen all year. And that’s just a testament to how hard he works as a player. I’ve always tried to get him recognition and he’s finally starting to get noticed at the Syracuse level, I mean he’s the only 30-hit, 100-strikeout player in all of Section 3.
“So, the kid works really hard and I’m extremely proud of him.”
Krause continued: “He throws really hard and he has a really good breaking ball and he was pitching to the outside corner and we struggled with that,” he said of Hayden. “We talked about it, we prepared for it, but it’s different when you actually see it out there. It took us a little while to get going and luckily Colin got us out of some jams when they had guys in scoring position early on.
“But that’s what you expect out of a four-year starting pitch, he’s the school’s all-time (wins) leader, so that’s what you expect out of Colin.”
Nathan Young tripled and Ben Hopperstad-Bartlett doubled in the second and fourth inning, respectively, but Young was left stranded and the Wildcats turned a sharp 4-6-3 double play to end the threat in the fourth.
Crinnin struck out the side in the fifth and after the first two Watertown batters reached in the sixth, Crinnin struck out three straight batters to end the threat.
“Hats off to West Genesee,” Moonan said. “They’re a fantastic program, coach Krause has been doing this for a long, long time I’ve played against him in high school myself. He’s always had these guys ready to play.”
Watertown, which entered the postseason with seven wins, began their run by knocking off second-seeded Fayetteville-Manlius, 4-2 on Tuesday, with Hayden pitching a four-hit gem.
Then the Cyclones rallied to defeat third-seeded Whitesboro, 8-4, in eight innings on Thursday, also at OCC.
“This group, I’ve nicknamed them the Cardiac ‘Clones,,” Moonan said of his team. “We’ve been down in games, like down a couple runs and they’ve never given up and the Whitesboro game is a great example of that. We just try to keep it positive in the dugout and keep telling the boys to be aggressive and hunt first-pitch fastballs early in the count and hopefully we try and find some gaps.”
Sophomore pitcher Brandon Rosso pitched a complete game to record the win, as Watertown rallied to tie the game with four runs in the last two innings of regulation to tie the game and one more in the eighth to prevail.
“People talk about records and what your record is,” Hayden said. “But I don’t really think that portrays how good of a team we are. I mean 7-12, sure, but we had two upset wins in the first two rounds of sectionals, so think that’s what really matters.”
Historically, Watertown competed in its first Section 3 final in baseball since 1990.
“My overall takeaway is that I try to preach to these guys that everyone up north really loves winning titles and are always taking about ‘league titles matter’ sure,” Moonan said. “But the ultimate goal is a sectional title and they really bought into that and they truly believe they can compete with any of these teams whether you’re the No. 1-ranked team or the seventh-ranked team, it doesn’t really matter once sectional play starts.
“And the boys definitely fought hard throughout the sectionals and I think hopefully people will start noticing the kind of program we’re trying to build here.”
A primarily young team with only two seniors, the bulk of the squad, including its entire starting lineup, is in line to return for next season.
“We got a really young core that is talented and I think that if we can get here, we’ll probably be going farther this time next year,” Hayden said.
“We’re hoping to be right back here next year and learn from this experience,” Moonan added.
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