Somers Season Comes to an End on No Hitter

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Mahopac at Somers

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After defeating Carmel to advance to the quarterfinals, Somers took a short trip to Mahopac and in facing Nick Masciarelli on the mound, the Tuskers were hoping for a direct route to the final four. Not quite, the Mahopac starter completely jammed the Somers GPS signal. “Their guy is legit, we couldn’t get anything going,” said Coach JT Genovese after the winning pitcher threw a no hitter. But Somers didn’t help themselves either in the 3-0 loss.

An umpire with a big strike zone, the game plan was to come out swinging, according to Genovese. The best laid plans didn’t play out, though. “The guys were trying too hard to have the perfect AB’s,” he said. “Working almost like professional at bats, rather than just going out there and being high school kids.”

Unfortunately, the difficulty started right away. Jack Hopper struck out looking, and Pat Bracelin went down swinging on an off speed pitch that still had credit going to Masciarelli. “He kept us off balance,” Genovese conceded.

A walk to Tyler Venturini spoiled the perfect game, but Masciarelli wasn’t watching the scorebook yet. He got Alex Hoffman to fly out to left, which gave Ryan McAuley the chance to match up on the mound.

Up to the task, he first had a little help from Andrew Kapica. On Vince Cataldo’s hot shot, the Somers shortstop fielded the hop backhanded, and the out registered at first, McAuley struck out Nick Mascoll and Drew Lichtenberger flew out to center.

Of course, Masciarelli didn’t miss a beat. A fly out and a ground out sent the first two Tuskers down, while McAuley’s strike out looking seemed to confirm the expanded strike zone. Short hopped by the catcher, the lowball was good enough for strike three.

Onto the bottom of the second, the Mahopac bats were the first to wake up. Jack Moeller doubled to right, and after Masciarelli went down on strikes, Hunter Eckstein reached on a throwing error by third baseman Pat Bracelin.

First and second, McAuley simply doubled down. He got two more strikeouts, and despite the eventual loss, the sophomore still had the praise of his coach. “He kept us in the game,” asserted Genovese.

In the third, McAuley did it with his glove. A bunt right back at him by RJ Grabekus was a piece of cake, but Cataldo’s scorcher back at the box could have cut McAuley like a knife. Instead, he made the snare and then got Mascoll on a pop to second.

Not impressed, Masciarelli wasn’t about to give ground. Two strikeouts looking and one swinging had Genovese reiterating the challenge. A big strike zone and the Mahopac mastery on the mound, he said, “kind of got in our heads.”

Maybe going both ways, Mahopac began to disprove the notion in the fourth. Lichtenberger singled between short and third, stole second, and Moeller followed by playing baseball 101.

A ground out to second moved the runner, and the WolfPac decided to stick with the small ball. Masciarelli squared to bunt, and that was good enough. McAuley dealt a wild pitch, and Mahopac led 1-0.

The bases cleared, Masciarelli kept it that way on his next swing. He launched one to deep center and the homer gave him a 2-0 lead.

Plenty of cushion, the starter continued to pitch like it. Four strikeouts in the next two innings, he was even more confident after Nate Mascoll took a big hack in the bottom of the sixth. Deep to left, he touched ‘em all too for a 3-0 lead.

Three outs to go, there was no stopping Masciarelli. He got Venturini and Hoffman on strikes, and the no hitter was complete on Kapica’s ground out to third.

The senior’s last hurrah, Genovese was nothing but thankful. “The best pitcher in section one,” the coach beamed.

On the receiving end, Joe Dwyer couldn’t escape his coach’s admiration either. “I’ve never seen a kid work so hard in my life,” said Genovese. “He does everything he can to be a good baseball player.”

And at third, fight always wins over fright. “Pat Bracelin has been an absolute warrior for us,” boasted Genovese.

A hurt Rhys Carway was able to contribute more last year, and while all will be missed, they helped lay the groundwork. “We were very young and coming into this year, things really started to shift,” said the coach.

A lot of returners, he’s certain Somers will reap the rewards next year. “All those guys who were starters last year as sophomores,” said Genovese,” this is going to be their team, and they are ready to go.”

A year younger, Genovese ended with his starting pitcher. “A special, special player,” he concluded, “Ryan is going to be next up for us.”