By J.P. BUTLER
NORTH COLLINS — Greg Herrick had only a brief pregame message for his Salamanca baseball team.
Herrick spoke of the mental toughness that both the Warriors’ football and boys basketball teams have displayed throughout their current “golden era” runs — both have made multiple trips to the New York State Final Four in the last few years. He reminded his squad that many of those same faces were standing in the dugout before him.
“(We talked about) just how mentally tough they’ve shown themselves to be,” Herrick said. “So, that’s kind of all I wanted to see (Saturday) as we continue to try to build the baseball program and reach the heights that some of the other sports have reached at Salamanca.”
In the end, Herrick’s words might have seemed almost poetic.
No, the fourth-year skipper couldn’t have known just how much that fortitude would be tested Saturday in a first-round road playoff contest. But when adversity hit — and it did early — his Warriors responded splendidly.
SALAMANCA overcame the loss of its starting pitcher before he’d even thrown a pitch. Indeed, ace Cory Holleran, after reaching base in the top of the first inning, suffered a dislocated shoulder while diving back to first on a pickoff attempt.
The Warriors received an incredible effort from No. 2 Zach Trietley, who didn’t just fill in on short notice, but who dominated, tossing a complete-game gem in which he struck out 11 and surrendered just three hits. And when it was over, they’d earned a resounding triumph, knocking off No. 5 Eden, 7-1, in a Section 6 Class B quarterfinal.
“I knew that within that locker room, we had enough guys that had been through it (in other sports), so I knew that we’d have good mental toughness,” Herrick said. “(Zach) showed a lot of that on the mound.”
Of Trietley’s gutsy effort, in which he allowed just one sixth-inning run, Herrick added: “His arm’s been barking for the second half of the year, and he just went out and did his job. I checked with him every inning and he said, ‘Let’s keep going and see what happens.’ He ended up throwing 100-and-something pitches. He never changed his demeanor, just a bulldog approach. I’m super proud of him.”
AFTER opening the year 7-0, Salamanca struggled in the season’s second half, losing nine of its final 12 games to drop to the No. 12 seed. The Warriors, though, finished strong, playing Olean to within 2-1 in their league finale and handling Brocton 12-3 in a tune-up game Thursday.
And they carried that momentum into their playoff opener.
Jake Herrick posted a two-run single in the fourth to give Salamanca a 2-0 lead. Calum Farnum notched a two-out RBI single in the fifth and finished with two RBI and two runs scored. The Raiders plated a run in the sixth to make it 3-1, but the Warriors answered with a four-run seventh to break it open.
“I think (in terms of) confidence, we just have a mixed bag of kids who are inexperienced, younger; and I know we’ve leaned on that all year, but some of those kids are really starting to grow up,” noted Herrick, when asked about his team’s ability to shake off a rough second half AND the loss of its No. 1 pitcher to earn a road playoff victory.
“The vibe has been different, and some of the younger guys are starting to believe in themselves. … I’m super proud to watch these guys overcome some of their confidence issues and those mental mistakes. For me, that’s the best kind of growth and we’re getting it at the best time of the season.”
NO, THEIR performance wasn’t perfect.
Salamanca failed early to garner that timely hit, “which was consistent with the way our second half has gone,” Herrick said. It stranded runners on second and third in the second inning and left the bases loaded in the third. It struggled, at times, against Eden starter Tyler Schunk, who racked up 10 strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs on three hits through six innings.
Ultimately, however, the Warriors came through. Payton Bradley finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Conner Seeley doubled in the seventh. Perhaps, the biggest hit, however, belonged to No. 9 hitter Brendon Ghani, who notched a two-run triple as part of that four-run frame.
Ghani, like Trietley, proved an inspirational tale, a West Valley transfer who hadn’t played baseball since T-ball, but came back out to give it a try this spring.
“He’s gone through the struggles, through the tough coaching and he’s just kept working every day,” Herrick said of Ghani, who reached base in all four of his plate appearances, adding three walks. “He needed that moment, he deserved it.”
The exclamation point to the afternoon, Herrick added: “That was a special moment. I think that’s the loudest (the kids) have been all year. (Brendon’s) just a quiet kid that puts his nose to the grindstone and shows up and works every day. So, I think the baseball gods were looking down on him today.”
FOR SALAMANCA, the operative word was probably “unexpected.”
Trietley, even with a bit of rest, didn’t expect to be pitching. The Warriors had to shake up their lineup, moving guys out of position, after Holleran went down.
But they made it work. Their reward is a quarterfinal rematch with league foe and No. 4 seed Fredonia (11-8) on Tuesday. Salamanca (11-9) dropped both regular season meetings, by counts of 14-5 and 8-3, but the Warriors were within 3-2 in the fifth in both games, Herrick noted.
“I’m super excited for the kids,” Herrick said. “I know most every coach is always gonna say it, but I think they leave an impression in a lot of different areas, not just the baseball field. To get a win and see the excitement on their faces and get an opportunity to go to the next round (was great).”
Of Fredonia, he added: “We battled them twice this year pretty well. They’re a super good team, a league opponent, they know us well and they’re extremely well-coached. We just love the fact that we have the opportunity to play one more day together.”
AT NORTH COLLINS
R H E
Salamanca 000 210 4 7 7 1
Eden 000 001 0 1 3 4
SA : Trietley (11 SO, 4 BB) and Bradley
ED: Shunk (10 SO, 5 BB), Liam Hauret (7) (1 SO, 1 BB) and Noecker
