So I have to write some thoughts on the last three days, when I hauled arse out to Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, home of the Chiefs, AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Section III High School Baseball finals were held there and quite frankly, two of the three games I shot had no business being there. I mean seriously, Cooperstown vs. Sauquoit and NY Mills vs. Brookfield really should have been at either DeLutis Field in Rome or Murnane Field in Utica. They should've figured something out to change those venues. Anyway I digress, because we got highlights of all four games we needed, including Whitesboro winning their third Class A final in four years and Clinton falling in the overall B final.
Something weird happened on the first day, an afternoon contest between Mills and Brookfield for the D final. Usually when you walk up the steps to the main concourse at ABS, you get a face full of wind. But this time, it was so brutally hot with no wind that I felt nothing! Setting up my camera at ABS is interesting, because you have to go behind home plate, with the net in front of you and if there's anyone sitting there, you're S.O.L. That first day I had to go a little to the side of home, which unfortunately was directly in the sun. While I remembered to put some sunscreen on my face, I really should've brought a hat. What's really pathetic is that I could've done that all three days and guess what? I forgot one every day! Whoops. Luckily the games were late enough in the day that the sun moved out of sight as to not sunburn my face at all. On the third day I misplaced my sunscreen, so I got a little roasted.
Interesting note on Brookfield. They're in our coverage area, are a little bit farther away than Sauquoit, closer than Mt. Markham, but we never ever shoot them. I guess they don't have that many teams, but more importantly, never call in scores. However, their baseball team is still undefeated, having beat Mills Tuesday to win the section and advance to regionals. Even better, they'll be playing at DeLutis Monday, the only team in regionals playing in our area. So that's a plus.
What can I say about Whitesboro? They were down against Bishop Ludden, looking just anemic on offense in the early inning. Down 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4, the Warriors rebounded every time and eventually exploded with a four run inning. Ryan Watson shut the door in relief, channeling Pedro Martinez in Game 5 of the 1999 ALDS against Cleveland, striking out nine in just four innings. This is head coach Bill DeCoursey's final run at the helm, so his next loss will be his final game, unless Whitesboro wins their first ever state championship, which is certainly possible. Watson then channeled A.J. Burnett in DeCoursey's post-game interview, hitting his coach in the face with a pie while we were talking with him! I probably should have just left, without talking to the players, because they had a post-game meeting after DeCoursey's interview and it was already 10 p.m. But I really wanted to talk with Watson and starter Matt Engler and needed some more sound for the rest of the weekend. So at 10:15 I headed back to Utica, barrelling across the NY State Thruway, praying I wouldn't get pulled over. Luckily that didn't happen and we were able to get highlights and the pie in the face on for the 11 p.m. show. Whew!
Thursday could've been worse than it was. Not to be a douche or anything, but I'm glad Clinton lost in the first game. I felt horrible that this was the first Warrior game we shot of this year, but I found out that they were a .500 team before playoffs, plus the spring was more erratic than usual with weather. I would've shot their B-2 championship game vs. Ilion Monday, but it was at 11 a.m. and I had worked late the night before. Plus I knew I'd be working every day this week, so sacrifices had to be made. If Clinton had won, I would've had to shoot post, which would have made getting back later even harder. Cooperstown and Sauquoit ended at about 9:45 p.m., the time I had decided in advance I had to leave to get back to Utica, no matter what the score was. Cooperstown had the lead early, scoring two runs in the top of the first. But the Indians slowly came back and they took the lead on back to back beanballs in the bottom of the sixth. (Okay, so they weren't really shots to the head, but beanballs sounds better than "back to back hit batsmen.") I was worried the game would go to extras, but Sauquoit bailed me out, even though I couldn't stay to get post-game interviews.
Thursday was also the only day of the three where it wasn't 90 degrees with the sun in my face and my sweating bullets. Instead the wind was stronger and the weather about 45 degrees. Good thing I brought a warmer jacket, though it wasn't quite frankly warm enough. Also M.I.A. on Thursday were the spiders that attacked my camera and tripod on Wednesday night as soon as the sun disappeared and the stadium lights were all that was left. I splattered four of them right in a row, including what looked to be a black widow hanging on the camera's viewfinder. Another annoyance was the camera's constant habit of randomly shutting off. The only time it screwed me over though was in the Whitesboro game, when I missed the Warriors tying the game at four on a two run hit.
Ah, the joys of being on the road in the local tv sports/news business. On the plus side, DeCoursey channeled Mills boys basketball coach Mike Adey after the Marauders won the state title this year in telling me I'm a good luck charm. Adey told me I can't ever leave, considering how much success they've had since I started working here. I didn't have the heart to tell DeCoursey that I wouldn't be heading to Albany to shoot their first regional game next Monday. Sorry coach, but on the plus side, if you win Monday, I'll be at DeLutis to shoot your second regional game Tuesday. So you've got that going for you... which is nice.
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