Fox Lane is one win away from a Section 1 title

Clockwise from top left, Logan Provost slides in safe at home for Fox Lane. Jackson Carroll was the winning pitcher for Fox Lane against Mahopac. Sean Singleton delivers an RBI single. (Jim MacLean Photos) Will Rudolph of Fox Lane is safe at second as Jacob Storch tries to make the play for John Jay. Will Civetta drills one for the Wolves. (Greg Kaplowitz photos)

By JIM MACLEAN

The 10 seniors on the Fox Lane varsity baseball team stayed on the field long after the final out, posing for photos, celebrating together one last time on their home turf.

Fox Lane had just defeated Mahopac 7-2 in a Section 1 Class AA semifinal winner’s bracket game as the No. 2-seed Foxes advanced to the championship game, and the seniors on the roster have been talking about this moment all season long. Most of them have been starters since their sophomore year and they have been to the semifinals the last two years and come up short.

Now, the Foxes are headed back to SUNY Purchase with one last chance to rewrite the ending and earn a Section 1 championship.

“We knew we were going to run with this senior class, most of them have been playing since their sophomore year,” Fox Lane coach Matt Hillis said of his seniors. “They’re a gritty group, they have a lot of guts, and the focus started in practice two days ago. They’re ready for this, experienced it two years in a row. Last year left a bitter taste and they feel they have something to prove.”

Senior Andrew Diaz got it started as he led off the first inning for the Foxes and drilled a double off the wall. Diaz came around to score on an RBI from senior Will Rudolph and the Foxes were off to a quick 1-0 lead.

Mahopac tied it up in the top of the second, but Fox Lane answered with two more runs in the second. Cooper Furst was hit by a pitch to start the rally. John Czernyk followed with a single, and Diaz walked to load the bases. Rudolph then drew a walk to score Furst, and Czernyk also came home to score on a throwing error to make it 3-1.

The big inning came in the fifth for Fox Lane. Holding on to a 3-2 lead, the Foxes put together a four-run rally behind four hits. Senior P.J. Stonsby reached on an error on a long fly ball. Senior Logan Provost followed with a single, and Sean Singleton then drilled an opposite field single to drive in pinch runner Spencer Grayson. Furst then laid down a bunt single to score Provost, and senior Danny Spolansky followed with a two-out RBI single to make it 7-2.

That was more than enough for Jackson Carroll as he went the distance on the mound and closed out the win, and the Fox Lane seniors celebrated for one last time together on their home field. They were not too sentimental though, because they are focused on one more 

“It’s weird, I love this field, but Purchase is turf too, and that’s where we want to be,” said Spolansky. “It’s been building and building and the job’s not done yet. The double from Diaz in the first inning kind of set the tone today. Everybody is hitting, we’re having fun and we have to finish strong.”

To get to the Mahopac game, Fox Lane started the double elimination semifinal bracket with a 7-0 victory over John Jay on Saturday, May 24. Rudolph led the way on the mound and at the plate as he pitched six innings and allowed only two hits to get the win. He also went 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored. Stonsby was 1-2 with two RBI, and Provost was 2-4 with an RBI for the Foxes.

Nolan Rhodes and Will Civetta got the only two hits of the game for John Jay.

Two years ago as sophomores, the Foxes lost to John Jay in the semifinals and the seniors remembered that loss. Last year they lost in the finals, and they were determined to make it back to Purchase.

“It’s like the revenge tour, we’ve been dreaming about this since last year and we’re really looking forward to Saturday,” said senior catcher Logan Mammola. “Everyone is contributing. A team effort every time out and we’re really excited.”

With the loss, John Jay then faced top-seed Yorktown in the double-elimination format and the Wolves jumped out to a fast 4-0 lead in the first inning. However, Yorktown was able to rally and finish the comeback in the last inning to pull out a 5-4 victory to eliminate the Wolves. Mahopac then defeated Yorktown on May 28, to advance to the finals against Fox Lane at Purchase on Saturday.

If the Foxes win they are the Section 1 champs. If Mahopac wins Saturday, the two teams will square off again on Sunday to decide the championship in the double-elimination format.

“This team has been together so long, a lot of us have played together since we were 10 years old,” said Rudolph. “We lost last year and this means the world to us, to know we have another chance. Everybody is locked in. It’s special to be able to play so many games on this field with the group of guys I grew up with, my friends, and we’re definitely not done yet.”