BINGHAMTON — Early mistakes in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) baseball semifinal left Bolivar-Richburg in a hole that it was unable to climb out of.
After being blanked in the top of the first inning, Section 9 champion Burke Catholic produced an early offensive blitz on the back of a number of Wolverine mistakes that played a big role in B-R’s 4-1 defeat on Friday.
“That’s going to be a tough one to swallow,” Bolivar-Richburg coach Dustin Allen said. “Give credit to Burke Catholic, they didn’t make the mistakes. They capitalized on our mistakes.”
Dylan DeMaro recorded a hit on the first pitch he saw from B-R’s starting pitcher Landon Barkley (three strikeouts, three walks). The early connection gave the Burke offense a jumpstart as it produced two more knocks in quick succession, one of which was an RBI from Jordan Drucker which brought across DeMaro. Drucker didn’t have to wait long to cross home plate himself.
Missed grounders, overthrows and general miscommunication all characterized B-R’s stumble out of the gate. According to Allen, it was those mental lapses that gave its opposition early momentum. But that one inning far from caused his team to fold.
“They had the momentum, but we were able to bounce back,” Allen said. “We were keeping it close, then we had the one inning where we loaded the bases with a few walks and a few close calls. It just didn’t go our way today.”
The Wolverines refused to believe they were buried and their offense showed flashes of life immediately following the BC burst. Barkley (1-for-3, run) recorded the first hit of the game for B-R in the top of the second inning and was subsequently brought across by Kingston Loucks (1-for-3).
The response came as no surprise to Allen, who noted that his team has had that fighting spirit inside of it all season. The combination of the atmosphere and being jumped on early only spurred them along.
“They’ve battled like this all year,” Allen said. “We’ve had a lot of close games, a lot of games where we have had to battle back. Today was no different. I was just hoping we could keep the momentum. It just didn’t happen.”
The bats went cold soon thereafter for the Wolverines as Burke pitcher Mason Gove, who recorded eight strikeouts and three walks in a complete game, started finding his spots. Trey Buchholz (2-for-3) notched the only two hits for B-R after the second inning — one coming in the third and the other in the sixth.
Buchholz, a senior and 2023 Big 30 All-Star, was one of the big players for Allen’s squad once again this season. Having had him in the ranks for the past four years, Allen spoke highly of his ace and what he has meant to the program.
“(Trey has) been with me for four years,” Allen said. “It’s been a joy to coach him. He didn’t want today to end his career. He was leaving it, everything, all out there. They all were.”
Burke followed up its first-inning offensive eruption with two more hits in the second. However, none of the four hits the Eagles produced after the opening frame resulted in an RBI. Of their two other runs scored, one was walked in and the other scored after a pitch went past the catcher and to the backstop.
Despite the loss, simply reaching the state semifinal was a special moment for Allen and his team, whose last trip to this stage came a decade ago in 2014.
“It was extremely special and I’m happy for these kids,” Allen said. “For our seniors, I wish we were going to play tomorrow. For the underclassmen, it’s a challenge now. ‘What do you guys want to do next year?’ The seven seniors have just been phenomenal to coach. I’ve had Trey and Caden (Allen) for four years, Reiss (Gaines) and Aydin (Sisson) for three years, the four starters. Then my other seniors, Caleb Miller, Aiden Smith and Landon Arnold have been a pleasure to coach. Those four are going to be a huge loss not just on the baseball field, but in sportsmanship, time and dedication.”
The loss of seven seniors, four of which were starters, will open some big holes in the lineup for Allen and according to him, there is no greater experience booster than seeing the field in the state semifinal.
“It’s got to be motivation,” Allen said. “They’ve got to see what we could have done and where we were, and say, ‘Hey, we want to be the team that gets further.’ Hopefully they enjoy this. They’ll hurt, but hopefully they look back on it next week, really enjoy it, and say, ‘Hey, we got to get to work.’”
R H E
B-R 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 4 4
BC 2 0 0 2 0 0 X — 4 7 0
Landon Barkley (3 SO, 3 BB), Trey Buchholz (4) (1 SO, 1 BB) and Aydin Sisson
Mason Gove (8 SO, 3 BB) and John Cook
