Pine Plains baseball takes league title

PINE PLAINS — Bombers baseball defeated Red Hook 6-1 last Wednesday, May 27, for its first Mid-Hudson Athletic League (MHAL) title since 2002.

Allen Lekocevic, one of last week’s Players of the Week, pitched the entire game, allowing only four hits and improving his record to 8-0 for the season. Coach Phil Amelio said his star pitcher has been undefeated for two straight years.

Matt Paterson knocked a two-run triple in the third inning, driving in Lekocevic and Mark Flinn and breaking a 1-1 tie. Paterson was three for three in the win; Lekocevic and Doug Mizutani were two for three and Flinn was one for two, with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.

“The big difference was they had four hits, and we had 14,� Amelio said. The win was “a tribute to our defense as well as to Allen [Lekocevic]. When we got people on [base], we were able to push a couple runs across. It was our ability to hit their pitcher versus their ability to hit Allen.�

To get to the league finals, Pine Plains defeated Webutuck 5-4 on May 26. Lekocevic received the win and the save for the game, as he relieved Sandro Frascotti-Robinson in the fifth inning before returning to the outfield for the sixth. He was then put back in for the final two outs of the seventh inning.

Pine Plains scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth as Matt Paterson hit a triple and then scored on Frascotti-Robinson’s single. Lekocevic had three hits in the win; Paterson added two and Seth Knickerbocker added a single and double, as well as two RBIs. Pat McCaffrey doubled for Webutuck.

Section Nine playoffs started early this week. Pine Plains received the top seed in the Class B baseball bracket. The Bombers faced eighth-seeded Highland on Tuesday, after this paper’s press deadline, and, in the event of a victory, will play today against the winner of the Spackenkill/O’Neill game.

“I think our chances of winning sectionals are pretty good,â€� he added.  “We need to continue what we’ve been doing. The reason we’ve been so successful is we play fundamental baseball. [My team] understands that, they’re good at it and they thrive on it. It’s the same scenario we preach every year, and we’ve been rolling with it pretty well. It’s almost to the point where we put them on remote control.â€�

If and when the Bombers win sectionals, there would be 11 teams left in the state. The last time Pine Plains won the league and sectional titles, in 2002, they won states as well. But Amelio is hesitant to speculate too far into the future.

“You don’t really talk beyond sectionals right now,� Amelio said. “But it’s so hard. The competition gets extremely difficult.�

As of their league title win, Pine Plains is 17-1 for the season.

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