KINDERHOOK–Saturday morning, May 12, the Ichabod Crane Athletic Department commemorated the 20th Anniversary of the school’s 1992 State Baseball Championship by hanging a sign on the leftfield fence and holding a reunion of former players and coaches prior to their non-league contest against former Patroon Conference rival and current Patroon Conference champions, the Chatham Panthers.
“It was nice to renew the rivalry,” said Chatham coach Scott Steltz. “The kids were looking forward to the game all week.” But while the Riders celebrated before the game, once things got started, only the Chatham players, coaches and fans were left cheering.
Chatham scored six runs over the first three innings to put themselves out in front with a comfortable lead, however they exploded over the final four innings, destroying the home team Riders 25-0.
Michael Verschelden tossed a complete game shutout for Chatham, allowing just four hits and no walks, while striking out 11 in a dominant performance. As impressive as the pitching and defense were for Chatham the offense was just as overwhelming. Cody Hall went 4 for 5, with 5 RBI and 4 runs scored; Nick Shaw was 3 for 6, with 4 runs; Joe Swinehart had a pair of hits, including a double and 2 RBI; Aaron Jackson went 3 for 4, with 2 runs; Trevor Madsen had three hits and Jesse Whiteman added a pair of hits in the win.
For the Riders Tyler Zeh, Nick Alberti and Dennis Heeder all pitched, allowing 22 combined hits and striking out eight in the loss. Alberti, Tyler Myers, Brandon Nelmes and Alec Reeves each had a hit in the loss. The Riders fall to 5-12 overall, 4-7 in the Colonial Council and wrapped up their regular season with a trip to Lansingburgh on Tuesday.
Chatham’s regular season is over, as they went 12-8 overall and 11-3 in the Patroon Conference. “We are looking forward to sectionals” said Steltz “and are actually happy to have some time off.”
