Details on HV’s gold-medal win (UPDATED)
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- July
- 26
Tony Pinciaro has the breakdown of how HV was awarded the gold. You can read it here.
(UPDATE, 7/27, 3:30 p.m.) I talked to Tony myself and here are a few things I learned:
HV was up 16-2 on Western in the seventh inning of Saturday morning’s game before surrendering seven runs to make the score appear closer. As Tony wrote in today’s story, the HV guys watched Adirondack’s ballgame against New York City, as did the Central guys. Hudson Valley rooted for NYC, which its city counterparts to win to secure HV a spot in the gold-medal game. HOWEVER, if Adirondack won, Central would’ve played Adirondack for the gold. NYC rallied from 5-0 down to win 6-5, no doubt a pleasing result for Hudson Valley.
The gold-medal game started well for the green and gold, with Zack Graczyk of Carmel (right) cruising. He helped stake his club to a 2-0 lead before the skies opened, dumping rain and, eventually, giant hail on the Union-Endicott High School field. U-E’s groundscrew said it couldn’t prepare the field for play until noon on Sunday, so baseball chairman Drew Marino (a man from Mahopac some of you know) ruled HV the gold medalist based on it earning the No. 1 seed out of round-robin play.
Obviously, this wasn’t an ideal way to declare a winner, but it sounds like the decision makers had no choice.
Ironically, Hudson Valley received the short end of a similar exchange in 2004, the last time the ESGs were held in Binghamton. Rain washed out the gold-medal game and HV, the No. 2 seed, was awarded silver.
Check out this photo below from Journal News photog Vinny DiSalvio, who captures the silver medalist surveying the damage at U-E’s field yesterday. Amazing. It sounds like a vicious storm.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 11:01 pm by Josh Thomson.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in
March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of
2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has
since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting,
Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his
fiancee, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning
fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and
insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh
graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University,
where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in
history. 
Jake Thomases has covered baseball, hockey, girls basketball, and girls soccer for the Journal News since arriving in 2003. He previously interned at The Poughkeepsie Journal while attending Vassar College. He is socking money away under his mattress to buy the Knicks, at which time he will trade Jerome James to Cleveland for a ham sandwich.
The starting pitching was strong for Hudson Valley. Andrew Benkwitt 7IP, 2ER (game 1), Rob Aviles 7IP, 0 ER ( Game 3) and Sean Hagan 5 IP, 1 ER (game 5) earned the 3 wins. Kevin Ferguson pitched 9 strong innings giving up 2 ER’s in game 2 getting a no decision. Peter Ladis took the loss in game 4 allowing only 2ER’s but got no run support. Zack Gracyk looked great in his 2 shutout innings of work in game 6 before the rain came. The bullpen however was shaky with several pitchers being wild and hit hard.
Some of the best starting pitching I’ve ever witnessed with one starter better than the next. The only thing was that they only hit in games 1 and five. Even in the losses, Game 2 Ferguson pitched a clinic with no run support, same with Game 4 Ladis who only allowed three hits and 2 runs. When the team did hit it was like a dam bursting (20 plus hits vs. Western(bronze team) and thats with wood bats! Base running was exceptional and aggressive under Greller, using the aid of Mcgovern’s jets, forcing throws and errors. The Defense was rock solid with an exceptional middle infield with Iacomini the 2B man really standing out. The Defense is definately what got them the Gold.
I thought bad weather got them the gold?
well the gAME was called after the second inning because of weather and it was not rescheduled because i belive that the rules of the Empire Games state the games must be finished within a certain period f time. therefore the win was given to HV and the gold as well
no green?
What happened to Green and who were the relief pitchers who were wild?
I caught what there was of the Gold game and the pitcher from the opponent was awful. Five walks and one HB in the first inning. The scorekeeper had him throwing 78 mph. Was that what the comp was like all
Green was replaced on the team by an alternate because he is hurt again. He has had arm/shoulder problems since late April and I believe is done for the year.
That’s exactly what the competition was like. Just look at the box scores and the high number of errors per game. These teams were BAD. Our guys must have totally outclassed the others. How the heck did we lose 2 games?
Unfortunately ESG is not taken as serious as it used to be. Back in the day the elite players all over were dying to get on these teams. Nowadays summer ball rules and ESG is an after thought.
Former Mamaroneck High and Quinnipiac College Shortstop Wilson Matos has recently signed with the Schaumburg (IL) Flyers of the Independent Northern League and after 6 games is batting .500 with 1HR and 3 RBI’s. His younger brother Mauricio a catcher out of Bronx DeWitt Clinton High was drafted in the 10th round by the Kansas City Roylas this past June and is playing A ball in Arizona. Congrats to the Matos brothers.
Pitching and defense was the story for HV. Catching was outstanding. The Panetta kid was a rock and the most consistent hitter.
Middle infield of Iocomini(2B) and Comastro(SS) were nearly flawless. They turned at least six or seven double-plays as well as other ‘gems’ during the tournament.
Orifice was great at first. Dug a couple out of the dirt and tagged out a runner while in mid-air, after being pulled off the bag.
Hagan, Grycyk, and Ladis were good, but Aviles and Ferguson were definitely a notch above everybody. The only other pitcher at the ESG who came close to those two, was a left-handed pitcher from Long Island.
In the 3-2 loss to CN, HV did hit the ball hard. Corona hit two ‘shots’, and the rest of the team added a handful of well hit balls right at CN fielders.
Other than running the bases, McGovern was a dissappointment. If not for his speed, he might not have had a hit (couple of infield hits/errors). But he CAN run!
orifice jumped caught the ball and made a tag all on the same play. awesome lol. In school we didn’t think he could jump at all. panetta is great no matter where or when he plays. he’s just the best catcher in the lower part of the state period. he proved it over the weekend when the best catchers around were all there. he was the starter and clearly deserved it.
your wrong about mcgovern, he may be THE best player in the state for next year. there is nothing he can’t do and he played hurt the last 2 months.
how did the other 1st baseman do?
I agree with “oh my”...mcgovern can do it all on the field and i’ve played against him multiple times. Every time i’ve witnessed him play he strokes no matter who is pitching…he is the fastest player in NYS…he is the best fielding center fielder by far in the area…he picks apart teams every time…he has been injured this summer and continued to play without any excuses…go and watch him play to see for yourself…iacomini can definitely play he is a top middle infielder around…orifice didn’t hit well but can steak with the best of them
did swertfager even see the field…
...not saying McGovern isn’t all that…just an observation regarding only Empires…relax…
people could say that about Panetta based on his production and attitude during the hs season. He has ahad very good ESG showing but doesn’t impress otherwise
Are you kidding me about Panetta …he is RANKED as the #1 catcher in NY for 09…..hes a stud behind the plate and the kid can hit…the 2 catchers for ESG were the absolute right choice to make it!
He’s described as a standout and one of the best around playing 2nd base in the blogs above which i’m not surprised but i read YOCK was named to the all state baseball team as a shortstop so why did he play 2nd base for empires? did he hit well? he had serious off the chart numbers for high school and looking at the rest of this team it’s no wonder why they brought home the gold it has a little bit of everything, PANETTA is a stud, MCGOVERN a roadrunner that could run down anything in center, a pitching staff that looks like it could be lights out, a defense that looks errorless and a batting line up that includes the names already mentioned above along with OREFICE, HAGAN, GRACYK,CORONA,CAMASTRO wow good job fellas way to go.
The one thing we can all take a way from this experience. The kids got the Gold. They were the best team up there. Say what you want about the other teams being weak etc. (some were) but this was a good team made up of the best players that tried out. The coaching staff could only chose from the guys who went to the tryout and picked the the best guys to represnt the HV area.
They did a great job. The end. Stop with the who played where and why. Stop with the who made what from hs and why (75% politics). These kids wanted to play here, they went to the tryouts, practices etc. Did someone get cut that shouldn’t have? maybe, who cares. This was a good team that forever will carry with them the fact that they WON.
Congratulations boys !!!!
I saw them play, I know a lot of them and they should be very proud.
Old Coach:
I agree with most of your points, but let’s also be realistic about the situation. Yes they won the gold(and deserved it) and they should be applaudedd. But I am sure these kids would have liked to play the BEST in the state. They didn’t. The other teams were weak. The fact of the matter is areas like Long Island do not have their elite there. Summer programs are chosen over this. I am glad kids like Hagan chose ESG, but he is in the minoroty these days.
I agree that they may have wanted to play the best. Lets be realistic though, if this was all about the best kids in the state playing, many, many of the kids who were able to play in the ESG would not be on the rosters. Kids chose to play ESG while others chose to play Legion and some just relaxed after the tedious summer schedule.
And while we are being honest…LEGION BLOCKS THERE KIDS FROM PLAYING…Newburgh Nukes, OTB Pirates and Sonnys Shrub Oak superstars
While were being honest. Any league that would block a player from exposure isn’t worth playing for. What are they protecting, there win-loss records that don’t mean anything? Isn’t it more pretigous to say we had two players from our team qualify for the Empire state games, validating their programs as developing and promoting players? Be real, who cares about the records of these programs. Playing for these or any other leagues doesn’t make a good player. Even playing for this team doesn’t validate a player. It does show the willingness to make the commitment and play in an unfamiliar situation. Any coach will tell you that the hardest thing is to see what a player has on the inside. Taking a chance on a team like this offers a glimpose into that.
You’re right about certain Legion Teams prohibiting their players from playing elsewhere but it’s to protect the integrity of the team. There are valid arguments both ways on this issue. By the way, Sonny’s Shrub Oak Superstars lost twice to OTB Pirates in the District 9 Tournament, including the championship game.
they block them because the legion tournament is the SAME week every year as empires…also this is about making money…so a coach can say ” I had Johnny signed with Elon and Timmy signed with St.John’s”....then they can get kids to pay to play….Empires has no hidden agenda no money made and if you guys read the article the workers (staff and coaches) get a shirt for helping out….for the coaches to block, they arent in it for the kids…which in essence what it is all about!
This show’s the strength of the programs like Taconic (6 players) Clippers (3) NY Nine (4) and Bayside (2). That they give the players the option. Now whether or not the kids want to go that’s different but at least they had the option. The teams take the time off of their own schedule to make this happen at a sacrifice to the kids who don’t chose to go.
Watching:
You took the words right out of my mouth. I can not validate all the programs you mentioned, but I can applaud Bayside. I played for Bayside (a long time ago). It was an amazing experience and the exposure was insane. The DEPTH was also unmatched. We were 2 deep at every position, and if we were hurting, our coach would get someone else because people were dying to play. The tryouts alone were an experience in itself.
Now I am not sure the ESG’s will bring more scouts, coaches, etc to a game, but like people mentioned above, it is about the experience and winning a medal. So Bayside would not shut the kids out.
The other teams that don’t “allow” it is a joke. If a teenager wants to play he should play. They should not be told what to do here. This is why I said the best isn’t out there. Adults with ulterior motives are ruining it.