Baseball: Huskies Win Marathon Game, Advance to Championship

The Harrison Huskies advanced to the Section 1 championship game Wednesday afternoon after upsetting Pearl River 7 - 0 in a semi-final game at Pearl River High School.

The game was a continuation of Tuesday's game, which was postponed in the second inning with Harrison leading 1 - 0. The Huskies sent sophomore pitcher Max Bruckner back to the mound with one out and a runner on second and asked him to protect a 1 - 0 lead. When all was said and done the Huskies could have left their bats on the bus, the one run would be all the young pitcher would need.

Harrison Head Coach Marco DiRuocco said he never considered pulling his starter after the rain delay.

"Nope, not even a thought," said DiRuocco. "We knew we were going with him, he had a minimal pitch count, he's been strong all year, he's got a strong arm and we didn't have to think about it for a second."

The decision immediately paid off. Bruckner induced a ground ball to second and then struck out a batter to get out of the second inning with the lead.

Pearl River elected to go with a new pitcher for the continued game. Head coach Bruce Miller gave the ball to Mike Scarinci, moving starting pitcher Anthony Calise to third base.

"Both of those guys are pretty even for us," said Miller. "Our pitcher had thrown 35 pitches and we didn't want to take any chances with his arm."

Harrison immediately jumped on the new pitcher in the third inning. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, Michael Chiarella smacked an RBI single, following up on a home run in his first at bat of the game on Tuesday. Bruckner knocked another run in with a double to right-center field. After Bruckner moved to third on a wild pitch Michael Jacobson knocked a single through the drawn-in infield to extend the lead to 5 - 0.

Pearl River had it's only real scoring chance of the game squashed by a great defensive play in the bottom of the third inning. After a walk and single put runners on first and second with one out, Harrison third baseman Mike DeLacy fielded a well-hit ground ball down the line, stepped on the bag and fired to first for a double play, ending the inning.

"That's what happens, you hit the ball hard and if they make the plays you've got to give them credit," said Miller. "They made the plays."

Bruckner settled down after the double play, retiring the next five batters he faced and 11 of 13 the rest of the game. The righty finished with a complete game shutout, yielding only three hits and striking out three.

Pearl River reliever Mike Scarinci finished the game as well, settling down after a rough third inning and shutting out Harrison in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before the Huskies tacked on two more runs in the seventh.

Scarino pitched five innings, giving up six runs off 10 hits.

Chiarella led the way for Harrison, going 4-for-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs and a run scored. Robert Carducci went 2-for-4 with an RBI, propelling Harrison to the championship game.

"I knew we were good enough, but I didn't think we would come this far," said Chiarella. "Everything is coming around."

Bruckner slammed the door shut on Pearl River in the seventh, striking out the last two batters of the game, putting an exclamation point on the upset victory.

"We're not satisfied, our goal is to be section champs and that's our goal right now," said DiRuocco. "We're in that position and we're going to go out and get them tomorrow."

Harrison will send senior Zach Eklund to the mound against Lakeland High School in the section championship game Thursday night at Dutchess Stadium.