Editor's note: Korey DeBeer is a student at Croton-Harmon High School participating inCHOOSE (Croton-Harmon Options and Opportunities for a Senior Experience),a shadowing program where he is going to sporting events and learning about the procedures on the sidelines for conducting interviews with coaches and players.
The hunt for a state title continues for Section 1's representatives in the largest classifications, Ketcham (Class AAA) and Eastchester (AA).
The Storm are looking to earn back-to-back state champions and become the inaugural NYSPHSAA Class AAA champion, while Eastchester is making a triumphant return to the state final four for the first time in 51 years.
Here's a look at how Section 1's representatives got to the 2024 state final four, and what lies ahead.
Class AAA: Ketcham
Ketcham (22-3) vs. Shenendehowa (20-7)
When: Friday, 4 p.m.
Where: Mirabito Stadium
Maxpreps rankings: Ketcham is the top-ranked Class AAA team in the state. Shenendehowa is right behind at No. 2.
Ketcham's road to states: Ketcham defeated North Rockland (9-2), Mamaroneck (4-2), and rival John Jay-East Fishkill (5-2) to win its third straight Section 1 title. The Storm followed up with lopsided wins over Section 4's Corning-Painted Post (11-0) and Section 9's Newburgh Free Academy (15-2) in regional play to return to the state final four.
Shenendehowa's road to states: Shenendehowa bested Christian Brothers Academy-Albany (2-1, 4-5, 10-7) and Saratoga Springs (1-4, 10-3, 9-4) in three-game series to win the Section 2 baseball title. After a bye to the regional finals, the Plainsmen rallied to defeat Section 3's Christian Brothers Academy-Syracuse (11-10) to secure their spot in the state final four once again. Interestingly, Shenendehowa played Mamaroneck in the regular season on April 27 and lost to the Tigers, 10-6.
The expectations were through the roof coming into this season for Ketcham. Coming off a state title run last year, with a core group of returners, the Storm entered the new year with a new name and a new class, but still retained their high standards.
All of their hard work was with intent to repeat as state champions, and so far, they’ve run through their checklist of objectives.
The first step to the state title was accomplished when the Storm won their third consecutive Section 1 title. They defeated North Rockland, Mamaroneck, and John Jay-East Fishkill during that run.
The second step was achieved in dominant fashion. The Storm run-ruled both Corning-Painted Post and Newburgh Free Academy on their way to a regional title.
Now, the final leg of the journey begins.
“At this point, it's kind of expected,” Ketcham senior Connor Durkin said. “Regionals proved that we can swing it a little bit. That's going to be the number one thing on other teams scouting reports, but we also run deep pitching. We are going to be a tough team to beat in the state final four."
Durkin is one of the 11 seniors on the team, a veteran squad that boasts depth throughout its lineup and pitching staff. There are some fresh faces mixed in, but this is an experienced group that had plenty of key players serving big roles in last year’s state title run.
"We're forgetting about last year, because we don't want to live in the past," senior Jason Due said. "We kind of just want to focus on what's ahead of us and not get too ahead of ourselves."
While they’ve turned the page from last season, they feel those experiences on New York high school baseball’s biggest stage have readied them for this year’s trip to Binghamton.
“We still have our core guys and they already know what to expect,” Ketcham sophom*ore Nick Mondesando said. “I know what to expect, just go out there and play our best baseball. We do that, we’re going to win it.”
With two games left in the 2024 season, Ketcham doesn’t plan on falling short of its state championship mission.
"They got to this point not just because of what we've been doing this year,” Ketcham coach Pat Mealy said. “But, because, they have put so much time into their craft and they do it all the time when no one's watching, so now they reap the benefits of these times. I'm so happy for these boys and we are certainly not done. We're looking forward to the next step."
Up next: The Ketcham-Shenendehowa winner will face either Section 11's Commack or Section 5's Fairport for the state championship on Saturday, 4 p.m., at the SUNY Binghamton baseball stadium.
Class AA: Eastchester
Eastchester (17-8) vs. Bethlehem Central (17-5)
When: Friday, 4 p.m.
Where: SUNY Binghamton stadium
Maxpreps rankings: Bethlehem Central is the No. 1-ranked Class AA team in the state. Eastchester enters at No. 4.
Eastchester's road to states: The Eagles defeated Lincoln (10-0), Harrison (2-0), Mahopac (1-0) and Fox Lane (6-4) to win their first Section 1 title since 2005. After a bye to the regional finals, they followed up with a 7-2 win over Section 9's Wallkill to advance to their first state final four since 1973.
Bethlehem Central's road to states: The Eagles defeated Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (3-0), Ballston Spa (4-0) and swept Averill Park (4-2, 6-5) in a three-game series for the finals to win the Section 2 title. After a bye to the regional finals, they overcame an early deficit to beat Section 3's West Genesee (5-3) to move onto the state final four.
The Super Bowl was still relatively new, Steven Spielberg didn’t have his Hollywood breakthrough yet, America hadn’t met the Bad News Bears, nor was the Sandlot or Field of Dreams built, when Eastchester last made a state final four in 1973.
It was well before any of the current Eagles’ players and head coach Jesse Waters was born. It’s been quite a while, but Eastchester is beaming with pride to break that 51-year drought, and it hopes to go even further as it prepares for its upcoming trip to Binghamton.
“The focus remains the same for how it’s been all year,” Eastchester senior Aidan Schultz said. “We have a good core with all of us, a great group of friends. We’re just gonna think of it as another baseball game.”
“Everyone’s in great spirits, no problems going on. I mean everyone is just excited. I feel like everyone just wants to play the game on Friday, but we gotta get through a good week of practice first.”
It’s been a movie-like season for the Eagles.
Before the season, the Eagles moved from Class A to AA, which the coaches and players knew would be a challenge.
“My expectation was to be competitive throughout the whole section,” senior Jason Ugalde said. “Hopefully make the section finals, but obviously we topped that and now we're going to the state semifinals which feels amazing.”
In a league filled with Class A teams, the Eagles didn’t play against many schools their own size. They only had one Class AA opponent on their regular season schedule, Riverside, and there were questions surrounding how they would fare in a Class AA postseason.
They quickly provided an answer and won their first section title since 2005.
“When (Matt Porcello) hit that ball against Harrison, we were like here we go.” said Waters, thinking back to their marquee win over Harrison in the Section 1 Class AA quarterfinals. “We got something going. We can play with this. We’re good enough to play in AA, and we proved it by winning the next two games.”
The Eagles have used the pitching dynamic duo of Jake Warnock and Ugalde for most of this playoff run. That’s all they needed, just a little run support because neither pitcher has allowed more than four runs in a game all postseason. That includes two shutouts, one by each of them.
In the Section 1 playoffs, they didn’t give up a single run until the sixth inning of the Class AA championship game.
“I give a lot of my teammates credit,” said Warnock, who recently earned his 102nd strikeout of the season. “They all hype me up in the dugout, even when I don’t pitch well. The offseason training helped a lot as well.”
Ugalde has been dominant in his own right, and he was named the Most Valuable Player of the Section 1 Class AA finals.
Although they have impressed on the mound, the Eagles’ bats have been coming along as well and defense continues to be a valued strength.
“It’s come together,” Eastchester catcher Brady Dunleavy said. “The defense and pitching is all key, the offense, we’ve all stepped it up. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Up next: The Eastchester-Bethlehem Central winner will face either Section 11's Hauppauge or Section 5's Victor for the state championship on Saturday, 4 p.m., at Mirabito Stadium.
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at@erapay5and on Instagram at@byeugenerapay.
