Byrnes, Bears Rally past Kennedy in Tournament

BREWSTER—The Brewster High baseball team has honored the memory of former player Chris Caiazzo each spring since his untimely death in an auto accident in January of 2007, creating the Chris Caiazzo Memorial Tournament.

Brewster's Adriel Barnes smashed a grand slam in a win over Kennedy last week. SKIP PEARLMAN Unfortunately, Brewster lost to Kennedy in each of the first three years.

This year, the Bears gave Caiazzo something to cheer about, grinding out an 8-6 win over a strong Gaels squad Saturday at Brewster High School.

The Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning, and added four runs in the third. Brewster held an 8-2 lead going into the seventh, where the Gaels rallied for four runs to make it close.

Brewster got a big lift from Adriel Barnes, who blasted a grand-slam in the third inning to make it a 7-1 game. Chris Byrnes pitched well and picked up the win, and also went 3-for-4 with a double. Brian McNamara was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, and Matt Bentson and Mike Blank each had an RBI.

Byrnes improved to 4-3 with the victory, lifting Brewster to 7-12-1 overall. Kennedy’s Oscar Giret took the loss, as the Gaels lost for just the third time in 18 games.

Erik Bauer went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI for Kennedy, and Ryan Patterson, Joe Smith and Boomer Odell each drove in a run.

“We have been playing well the last few games, and we continued to play well,” Bears manager Ed Mulvihill said. “It was our first win over them in four years… but in the last five games, we’ve gotten better in every game. I really feel we’re playing some of our best ball… we’re competing, and coming together. Byrnes had his best performance of the season, he put together a real nice game.”

Kennedy manager Bob Fletcher said the Bears had a good day at the plate. “They hit the ball well,” he said. “Better than we expected… they’re a good hitting team. We came back in the seventh, but it was too little, too late.”

The Bears also picked up a 4-1 victory over Panas the prior Wednesday at home.

McNamara came up with the win on the mound for Brewster, which finished at 2-8 in League 2-B play.

Blank went 2-for-2 with an RBI, McNamara drove in a run and went 2-for-3, and Ryan Winch, TJ Delfranco and Barnes each had one RBI.

“That was a god win,” Mulvihill said. “They had beaten us Monday, but we got good focus from our guys.”

Brewster will be in the playoff tournament that gets underway with first-round games Friday. If the Bears need to play an out-bracket game, that would be today (Thursday). Seedings were TBA as of press time.

Kennedy also managed to come back from a 10-1 deficit to beat Pawling, 13- 10, in a League 1-D game played Saturday morning at Kennedy.

The Gaels clinched the league title earlier, finishing at 9-1 in league play.

Odell smacked a two-run double to tie the game at 10-10 in the sixth inning, and the Gaels went on to push three more across in the same frame to take the lead for good.

Bauer picked up the win for the Gaels, and also had a big day at the plate, knocking in three runs with a homer and a double. Patterson went 2-for-4 with three RBI, John Giordano had two RBI and was 3-for-4, and Dan Kurylas went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Kennedy also beat Haldane, 3-1, earlier in the week, with Tom Baroni earning the win, and striking out 10.

Kurylas had two RBI and went 2-for- 4, and JT Flanagan drove in a run.

Fletcher likes the way his team has played this season, and is hoping his team can stay hot offensively, as the playoffs open up Friday (TBA).

“I think the bats came alive again, which is good,” he said of the Haldane win. “I am a little concerned with our pitching… we’ve given up some runs in the last few games. But our defense has been solid all year. For us to be successful, the pitching and the defense have to be there.”

PEARLMAN BASEBALL
BREWSTER 8
KENNEDY 6
BREWSTER 4
Panas 1
KENNEDY 13
Pawling 10
KENNEDY 3
Haldane 1